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AN 


ADDRESS 

COMMEMORATIVE  OF  THE 

Organization  of  City  Government 

IN  BOSTON,  MAY  1,  lS22. 

DELIVERED  AT  THE  REQUEST  OF  THE  CITY  COUNCIL, 

ON  SEPTEMBER  17,  1897, 


BY 


JOSIAH    QUINCY, 


MAYOR  OF  THE  CITY. 


BOSTON: 

MUNICIPAL     PRINTING     OFFICE, 
1897. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org7details/addresscommemora00quinrich 


AN 

ADDRESS 

COMMEMORATIVE  OF  THE 

Organization  of  City  Government 

IN  BOSTON,  MAY  1,  1822. 

DELIVERED  AT  THE  REQUEST  OF  THE  CITY  COUNCIL, 

ON  SEPTEMBER  17,  1897, 


BY 

JOSIAH   9UINCY, 

MAYOR  OF  THE  CITY. 


BOSTON: 

MUNICIPAL     PRINTING    OFFICE 
1897. 


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In  Common  Council,  April  8, 1897. 

Mr.  SANDS  of  Ward  12  offered  an  order — That  a  joint  spe- 
cial committee,  to  consist  of  the  President  and  five  members  of 
the  Common  Council,  and  the  Chairman  and  such  as  the  Board  of 
Aldermen  may  join,  be  appointed  to  confer  with  His  Honor  the 
Mayor  in  regard  to  a  proper  observance  of  May  1,  1897,  said 
date  being  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  the  organization  of 
the  City  Government,  under  charter  granted  Feb.  23,  1822,  and 
adopted  March  4,  1822. 

Passed.  Sent  up  for  concurrence.  In  Board  of  Aldermen, 
April  12,  1897,  Concurred. 

Aldermen  Dyar,  W.  F.  Donovan  and  Lott  were  appointed  on 
said  committee. 


In  Common  Council,  April  15,  1897. 

The  President  announced  the  appointment  of  members  on  the 
part  of  the  Council,  on  the  committee  on  seventy-fifth  anniver- 
sary of  Organization  of  Boston  City  Government,  viz.  :  Messrs. 
Conry  of  Ward  2,  Sands  of  Ward  12,  Mahoney  of  Ward  4, 
Briggs  of  Ward  11,  Connolly  of  Ward  17,  and  Jones  of 
Ward  21. 


In  Common  Council,  June  24,  1897. 

Mr.  SANDS  of  Ward  12  submitted  the.following  :  — 

The  joint  special  committee  on  the  observance  of  the  seventy- 
fifth  anniversary  of  the  Boston  City  Government  submit  the  fol- 
lowing report  of  their  action  to  date.  Memorial  exercises  will  be 
held  in  the  Council  Chamber,  Sept.  17,  1897,  before  the  mem- 
bers of  the  government  and  invited  guests,  the  address  to  be 
delivered  by  His  Honor  the  Mayor.  An  historical  volume,  em- 
bodying this  address  and  collateral  facts  concerning  our  munici- 
pality is  to  be  issued,  and  to  prepare  and  publish  this  document, 
the  committee  ask  for  an  extension  of  time,  and  the  passage  of 
the  accompanying  order : 

Ordered,  That  the  Clerk  of  Committees,  under  the  direction 
of  the  Committee  on  Printing,  prepare  and  publish  2,500  copies 
of  a  memorial  to  commemorate  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of 
the  Boston  City  Government,  and  that  $1,000  be  appropriated 
and  charged  to  City  Council  Incidental  Expenses. 

Report  accepted,  order  passed.  Sent  up  for  concurrence.  In 
Board  of  Aldermen,  June  30,  1897,  Concurred.  Approved  by  the 
Mayor,  July  2,  1897. 


117620 


INTRODUCTION. 


In  accordance  with  the  foregoing  votes  a  meeting  was  held  in 
the  Common-Council  Chamber  on  Friday,  Sept.  17,  1897,  at  four 
o'clock. 

Of  the  former  maj^ors  present  were,  the  Hon.  Frederic  W.  Lin- 
coln, the  senior,  who  served  the  city  in  1858,  1859,  1860,  1863, 
1864,  1865,  1866,  seven  years  in  all;  the  Hon.  Samuel  A.  Green, 
1882,  who  was  the  presiding  officer  of  the  day  ;  the  Hon  Thomas 
N.  Hart,  1889  and  1890,  who  entered  the  chamber  with  Mayor 
Quincy,  and  was  accompanied  by  Alderman  William  F.  Donovan 
of  the  committee  of  arrangements,  and  Alderman  David  F.  Barry, 
all  of  whom  had  seats  on  the  President's  platform. 

In  their  immediate  front,  for  whom  seats  were  reserved,  were 
the  following :  — 

Former  Chairmen  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  Benjamin  James, 
1869;  Homer  Rogers,  1889,  and  Alpheus  Sanford,  1894-95. 
Former  Aldermen  John  M.  Clark,  who  comes  next  to  former 
Alderman  James  in  point  of  seniority ;  Benjamin  F.  Anthony, 
1882-83  ;  Asa  H.  Caton,  1880 ;  George  L.  Thorndike,  1880 ; 
Charles  M.  Bromwich,  1886-87;  Thomas  H.  Devlin,  1883; 
Charles  W.  Smith,  1887-88-89-90  ;  Sidney  Cushing,  1890 ;  Clar- 
ence W.  Hallstram,  1893-94;  Nathaniel  J.  Rust,  1891-92; 
WiUiam  Pope,  1875-76. 

President  of  the  Common  Council,  Joseph  A.  Conry,  1895-96. 
Former  Presidents  Joseph  Story,  1855  and  1856 ;  William  G. 
Harris,  1869  ;  Matthias  Rich,  1871  ;  M.  F.  Dickinson,  Jr.,  1872  ; 
Edward  J.  Jenkins,  1885-86,  and  Christopher  F.  O'Brien, 
1894-95. 

Former  Councilmen  Patrick  E.  Riddle,  1885,  1893-94-95-96  ; 
M.  W.  Norris,  1888-89-90-91-92-94-95;  M.  T.  Callahan, 
1892-93-94-95-96,  and  Daniel  D.  Rourke,  1893-94. 

Introduction  by  Hon.  Samuel  A.  Green. 

The  formal  proceedings  were  commenced  by  Hon.  Samuel  A. 
Green,  ex-Mayor  of  the  city,  who  had  been  selected  to  preside, 
and  who  introduced  the  orator  of  the  day,  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy, 
in  the  following  words  :  — 


ADDRESS 

BY 

EX-MAYOR  SAMUEL  A.   GREEN. 


It  is  an  interesting  occasion  that  brings  us  together  this 
afternoon.  Three  quarters  of  a  century  have  come  and 
gone  since  the  town  of  Boston  laid  aside  its  limited  powers 
and  privileges,  and  took  on  the  larger  duties  and  obligations 
which  were  granted  by  a  city  charter.  In  accordance  with 
a  custom  long  established  in  our  community,  it  seems  emi- 
nently fit  that  an  event,  so  fraught  with  great  and  bene- 
ficial results,  should  be  marked  in  some  way  out  of  the 
common  course  and  made  conspicuous  by  a  formal  recog- 
nition. For  such  a  celebration,  what  day  in  the  whole 
year  is  so  proper,  as  the  anniversary  of  the  passage  of  the 
order  by  the  Court  of  Assistants,  on  September  17,  two 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  years  ago,  that  Tri-mountaine 
should  be  called  Boston.  By  a  happy  coincidence  the  day 
is  also  the  anniversary  of  another  memorable  event  of  more 
recent  times  which  should  not  to  be  overlooked  on  this  oc- 
casion. On  September  17,  one  hundred  and  ten  years  ago, 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  adopted  and 
signed  in  convention,  thus  adding  other  traditions  and  asso- 
ciations to  the  date  which  is  considered  the  birthday  of  our 
beloved  city. 

Among  all  civilized  communities  mankind  delights  in  an- 
niversaries, and  rejoices  in  found  periods  of  recorded  time ; 
and  the  fact  crops  out  in  political  as  well  as  ecclesiastical 
history.  This  feeling  is  prompted  by  a  delicate  sentiment 
of  our  nature,  which  goes  back  so  far  that  the  mind  cannot 
follow  it.  The  commemoration  of  to-day  is  in  harmony  with 
these  views,  and  is  suggested  by  an  instinct  as  broad  as 
human  nature  itself. 


8  Seventy-Fifth  Anniyersary  of  Boston. 

It  is  my  pleasant  duty  this  afternoon  to  introduce  the 
speaker  of  the  day ;  and  I  take  the  opportunity  now  to  con- 
gratulate the  citizens  of  Boston  on  having  a  public  servant 
so  able  to  describe  the  organic  changes  that  have  taken  place 
in  the  municipal  government  during  these  seventy-five  years, 
and  so  competent  to  trace  the  evolution  of  events  as  they  have 
gradually  unfolded  themselves.  I  also  felicitate  the  citizens 
of  Boston  on  having  a  Mayor  who  from  two  distinguished  an- 
cestors has  inherited  the  traditions  of  the  office,  and  who  is 
so  familiar  with  the  story  of  its  political  development.  I 
doubt  if  ever  it  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  other  municipal- 
ity in  the  land,  within  a  period  of  three-quarters  of  a  century, 
to  have  the  mayoral  office  filled  by  three  lineal  descendants  of 
one  family,  and  each  of  them  bearing  the  same  name. 

It  may  seem  needless  to  introduce  a  gentleman  so  well- 
known  as  the  speaker  who  will  address  us  this  afternoon,  but 
as  matter  of  mere  form  I  will  present  to  the  audience  His 
Honor  Mayor  Quincy. 


ADDRESS 

BY 

JOSIAH  OUINCY,  MAYOR. 


Mr.  Chairman  and  G-entlemen  of  the  City  Council : 

It  has  been  thought  appropriate  that  the  city  of  Boston 
shoukl  observe  in  some  simple  manner  the  completion  of  the 
first  three-quarters  of  a  century  of  its  corporate  existence. 
The  first  city  government  Avas  inaugurated  on  May  1,  1822 ; 
as  the  present  exercises  could  not  be  arranged  for  that 
date,  they  were  postponed  until  to-day,  the  two  hundred  and 
sixty-seventh  anniversary  of  the  original  establishment  of  the 
town  of  Boston.  It  was  felt  that  the  occurrence  of  this 
seventy-fifth  anniversary,  coming  so  near  the  close  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  and  at  a  time  of  transition  in  municipal 
affairs,  when  our  city  is  just  entering,  in  many  respects, 
upon  a  new  period  in  its  development,  might  well  serve  as 
an  occasion  for  taking  a  brief  survey  of  the  past,  for  endeav- 
oring to  realize  more  fully  just  what  the  constitution  of  our 
government  is  at  present,  and  for  considering  some  of  the 
lines  upon  which  farther  improvements  are  to  be  sought. 

The  year  1897  has  been,  or  will  be  during  its  remaining 
months,  marked  by  events  which  may  well  serve  to  make  it 
a  conspicuous  milestone  on  the  pathway  of  our  municipal 
progress. 

Changes  in  City  Government. 

Perhaps  first  of  all,  —  particularly  as  one  of  the  moving 
causes  for  the  holding  of  these  exercises, — should  be  men- 
tioned the  passage  by  the  Legislature  of  the  act  for  the 
consolidation  into  one  chamber  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
and  the  Common  Council,  which  is  to  be  submitted  for  the 


10  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

acceptance  of  the  voters  at  the  coming  state  election.  If 
they  ratify  the  work  of  the  General  Court,  the  two  branches 
established  by  the  charter  of  1822  will,  at  the  close  of  an 
existence  of  three-quarters  of  a  century,  disappear  as  separate 
bodies  from  our  city  government. 

Great  Public  Works. 
In  the  line  of  great  public  works,  the  present  year  has 
seen  the  opening  for  travel  of  the  first  section  of  the  subway, 
the  greatest  piece  of  engineering  work  ever  undertaken  by 
our  city  within  its  own  limits,  and  only  to  be  compared  in 
magnitude  with  our  water  works  ;  the  beginning  of  the  con- 
struction of  the  new  Southern  Union  Station,  the  largest 
single  enterprise  ever  undertaken  by  a  private  corporation 
within  this  city,  destined  to  be  one  of  the  finest  railroad 
passenger  terminals  in  the  whole  world ;  the  abolition  of  all 
railroad  grade-crossings  of  the  Providence  main-line,  within 
the  city,  and  the  beginning  of  the  abolition  of  those  between 
Charlestown  and  Cambridge,  and  Charlestown  and  Somer- 
ville,  —  improvements  which  have  baffled  the  efforts  of  the 
ablest  engineers  for  forty  years ;  the  combination  of  our 
great  surface  railway  system  with  the  projected  elevated 
railway  system,  thus  assuring  the  completion  of  the  latter; 
and  the  opening  of  work  upon  the  new  Columbia  Road, 
uniting  the  Marine  Park  with  Franklm  Park,  which  will 
practically  finish  our  park  system  by  completing  the  chain 
of  Parkways,  over  nine  miles  in  length,  connecting  the 
Public  Garden  with  Castle  Island. 

The  present  year  has  seen  the  partial  construction  of  the 
new  bridge  to  Charlestown,  and  the  beginning  of  plans  for 
the  new  bridge  to  Cambridge  to  replace  the  two  main  bridge- 
connections  of  the  city,  which  date  back  to  the  last  cen- 
tury. It  has  seen  legislative  provision  for  the  building  of  a 
tunnel  to  East  Boston ;  the  construction  of  the  first  section 
of  the  pneumatic  system  for  the  transportation  of  mail  matter 


City  Government  of  Boston.  11 

and  light  packages,  and  the  laying  of  the  first  section  of 
pipe-line  for  the  use  of  salt  water  in  the  extinguishment  of 
fire.  The  end  of  the  year  will  see  the  acquisition  by  the 
Metropolitan  Water  Commission,  acting  under  authority  of  the 
Commonwealth,  of  all  of  the  great  water  supply  system  of 
the  city,  and  probably  the  introduction  of  the  water  of  the 
Nashua  river.  This  year  will  also  see  the  inauguration  and 
partial  completion  of  a  public  undertaking  of  great  import- 
ance, namely,  the  laying  out  of  a  widened  thoroughfare 
for  teaming  through  the  business  district,  extending  from 
Charlestown  street  to  Atlantic  avenue,  upon  which  the  last 
Legislature  authorized  the  city  to  expend  half  a  million  dol- 
lars. The  abolition  of  the  grade  crossing  of  the  Old  Colony 
railroad  and  Dorchester  avenue  has  also  been  finally  provided 
for  this  year,  by  legislation  securing  the  relocation  of  the 
tracks  for  a  distance  of  over  half  a  mile ;  and  in  connection 
with  this  plan  our  Park  Commission  has  already  acquired  the 
stretch  of  marsh  and  shore  adjacent  to  this  railroad  on  the 
Old  Harbor,  thereby  bringing  nearly  the  whole  of  two  and 
one-half  miles  of  important  water  front  under  public  owner- 
ship. The  widening  of  Charlestown  street,  to  serve  as  an 
approach  to  the  new  bridge  to  Charlestown,  at  an  estimated 
expense  of  half  a  million  dollars,  must  also  be  included  in 
the  list  of  important  public  undertakings  of  the  year. 

Progress  in  Works  for  Public  Health. 

In  other  lines  of  municipal  activity,  which  signalize  the 
present  year ,  may  be  mentioned  the  inauguration  of  a  com- 
prehensive policy  of  providing  local  playgrounds,  the  city 
having  acquired  this  year  and  last  year,  and  partially 
improved,  seven  different  parcels  of  land  for  this  purpose ; 
the  opening  of  our  first  public  in-door  gymnasium,  acquired 
by  gift,  and  now  conducted  by  the  city  under  express 
autliority  of  the  Legislature ;  the  passage  of  an  act  revolu- 
tionizing the  financial  basis  upon  which  our  sewerage  and 
drainage  works    are    constructed    and    operated,    and    the 


12  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

opening  of  our  first  municipal  bath-house  for  all-the-y ear- 
around  use,  probably  the  best  appointed  and  most  costly 
building  yet  erected  for  the  purpose  hj  any  American  city. 

Printing  and  Electric  Plants. 
The  present  year  has  also  seen  the  establishment  of  a 
municipal  printing  plant,  the  first  to  be  put  in  operation  by 
any  city  in  this  country;  and  the  installation  by  the  city  of 
its  first  isolated  electric  lighting  plant,  at  a  cost  of  fifty 
thousand  dollars. 

Harbor  Improvements  and  Fortifications. 
To  turn  to  activities  of  the  federal  government  affecting 
Boston,  this  year  has  seen,  or  will  see  during  its  remaining 
months,  the  completion  of  important  harbor  fortifications,  for 
the  first  time  affording  reasonable  protection  to  the  city 
against  modern  ships  of  war,  and  the  beginning  of  the 
important  work  (for  which  provision  has  now  been  made  by 
Congress)  of  deepening  the  channel  of  our  harbor  to  provide 
properly  for  modern  shipping.  In  connection  with  the  har- 
bor, the  passage  of  important  State  legislation  inaugurating 
to  some  extent  the  policy  of  public  ownership  of  the  unim- 
proved water  front,  and  providmg  for  the  construction  of  a 
modern  dock  upon  the  land  of  the  Commonwealth  at  South 
Boston  calls  for  particular  mention. 

Humanitarian  Changes  in  Public  Institutions. 

In  respect  to  the  internal  organization  of  our  city  govern- 
ment, the  separation  of  the  Institutions  Department  into  five 
new  departments,  placmg  Boston  in  advance  of  all  other 
American  cities  in  the  scientific  organization  and  specializa- 
tion of  penal,  charitable  and  reformatory  work,  is  the  most 
notable  event  of  the  year.  The  creation  of  a  department 
of  Municipal   Statistics,  the  first   to  be  established  in  this 


City  Government  of  Boston.  13 

country,  again  places  our  city  in  the  lead  in  the  inauguration 
of  a  new  branch  of  service,  which  has  proved  of  great  value 
abroad  and  will  doubtless  become  of  equal  utility  here. 

Opening  of  a  New  Municipal  Period. 

Certainly  the  aggregation  of  these  results  amply  justifies 
the  statement  that  this  year  1897  may  well  serve  to  mark 
the  close  of  one  period  and  the  beginning  of  another  in  the 
municipal  history  of  Boston.  They  indicate  veiy  clearly 
that  this  city,  having  now  exceeded  the  half-million  mark 
in  population,  may  truthfully  be  said  to  have  entered  upon 
its  metropolitan  era.  We  have  turned  our  backs  at  last  upon 
the  three-quarters  of  a  century  which  lie  behind  us,  and  are 
looking  forward  to  the  great  municipal  career  which  the 
next  quarter  of  a  century  should  have  in  store  for  us. 
Beginning  in  1822  as  a  small  provincial  city,  surrounded  by 
towns  of  comparatively  little  population,  the  Boston  of  to- 
day finds  herself  occupying  no  mean  rank  among  the  great 
cities  of  the  world,  and  encircled  by  a  chain  of  twenty-eight 
cities  and  towns  which  bring  the  total  inhabitants  of  the  city 
and  immediate  suburbs  nearly  to  the  million  mark.  Indica- 
tions can  be  seen  on  every  hand  that  our  city  has  entered 
upon  a  new  era  of  municipal  development,  of  extension  and 
improvement  of  municipal  service,  and  is  preparing  herself  for 
the  new  and  added  responsibilities  which  the  twentieth  century 
will  bring  to  a  great  urban  community. 

Attempts  at  Incorporation. 

Like  other  old  towns,  Boston  had  never  been  specially 
incorporated  by  act  of  the  General  Court ;  it  was  merely  recog- 
nized as  a  self-constituted  local  body  politic.  As  early  as  the 
seventeenth  century  efforts  had  been  made  to  secure  an  act 
of  incorporation,  but  these  had  come  to  nothmg.  There  were 
no  less  than  four  reports  made  by  committees  of  the  town  in 


14  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

favor  of  the  adoption  of  a  city  charter  prior  to  that  report 
of  1821  which  resulted  in  securing  it.  These  four  attempts 
were  made  in  the  years  1784,  1792,  1804  and  1815. 

The  committee  of  1784,  which  included  Samuel  Adams 
and  James  Sullivan,  submitted  two  plans.  It  is  a  some- 
what curious  coincidence  that  the  first  plan  proposed  by  this 
committee  provided  for  a  city  government,  acting  for  some 
purposes  as  a  single  chamber,  consisting  of  thirty-eight  mem- 
bers, the  exact  number  provided  for  by  the  act  of  the  present 
year,  while  the  second  plan  proposed  a  single  body  elected 
one-third  at  large  and  two-thirds  by  wards,  the  same  basis  of 
election  now  proposed.  Both  of  these  plans  were  over- 
whelmingly rejected.  The  committee  of  1792  included  John 
Quincy  Adams,  Charles  Bulfinch,  James  Sullivan  and  other 
well  known  men.  They  proposed  a  Town  Council  of  twenty- 
seven  members,  the  nine  Selectmen  to  be  chosen  at  large, 
and  the  remaining  eighteen  members  to  be  elected  in  the  nine 
wards  which  it  was  proposed  to  establish.  This  plan  also  was 
rejected  after  full  consideration.  In  1804  the  town  took  the 
interesting  step  of  ordering  what  was  called  a  constitutional 
convention,  the  members  of  whicli  were  chosen  by  wards,  that 
system  of  voting  having  been  introduced  in  1799.  Under 
the  plan  proposed  by  this  body  the  town  meeting  was  retained, 
but  shorn  of  its  powers ;  it  was  also  recommended  in  the 
report  "  that  suitable  measures  be  taken  to  render  the  town 
of  Boston  a  county,"  vesting  the  executive  powers  of  the 
Court  of  Quarter-Sessions  in  the  proposed  Town  Council. 
In  1815  another  large  and  influential  committee  proposed  a 
somewhat  complicated  modification  of  the  plan  of  1804.  The 
report  of  1815,  in  spite  of  the  complications  of  the  proposed 
scheme  of  government,  came  much  nearer  success  than  any 
preceding  efforts,  only  failing  of  adoption  by  a  vote  of 
951  opposed  as  against  920  in  favor;  an  indication  that 
the  town  was  at  last  nearly  ready  to  seek  incorporation  as 
a  city. 


City  Government  of  Boston.  15 

City  Charter  Adopted. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Constitution  of  Massachusetts 
,  as  it  then  stood  made  no  express  provision  for  the  incorpora- 
tion of  cities,  the  constitutional  convention  of  1820  thought 
it  proper  to  submit  to  the  people  of  the  state  what  is  now 
the  Second  Amendment,  providing  that  the  General  Court 
could  incorporate  as  cities  towns  containing  upward  of 
12,000  inhabitants.  This  amendment  was  adopted  by  a 
small  majority,  and  shortly  afterward  the  town  appointed  a 
final  committee,  which  included  John  Phillips,  then  Presi- 
dent of  the  Senate  and  afterwards  first  Mayor  of  the  city ; 
Josiah  Quincy,  then  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives and  afterwards  the  second  Mayor ;  Lemuel  Shaw,  later 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  Daniel  Webster. 
This  committee  submitted  its  report  on  Dec.  31,  1821,  which, 
after  it  had  been  debated  three  days,  and  amended  in  several 
important  respects,  was  submitted  to  popular  vote  on  Jan.  7, 
1822.  Upon  the  question  whether  Boston  should  be  a  sep- 
arate county,  which  was  submitted  separately,  the  vote  was 
almost  unanimous  in  the  affirmative,  while  the  plan  for 
changing  the  town  into  a  city  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  2,805 
yeas  to  2,006  nays.  This  was  promptly  followed  by  the  pas- 
sage by  the  General  Court  of  the  act  of  incorporation,  ap- 
proved by  the  Governor  on  Feb.  23,  1822 ;  and  on 
March  4  the  act  was  accepted  by  the  town  by  a  vote  of 
2,797  yeas  to  1,881  nays. 

r  When  the  town  government  ended  one  hundred  and  twelve 
officers  were  chosen  annually  in  town  meeting,  in  addition  to 
those  appointed  by  the  Selectmen ;  and  moreover  each  ward 
elected  one  member  of  the  Board  of  Health,  two  Assessors 
of  Taxes,  and  a  ward  clerk.  ^  Under  the  new  city  charter 
the  voters  of  the  whole  city  were  to  choose  only  one  Mayor 
and  eight  Aldermen-at-large,  while  the  voters  of  each  of  the 
twelve    wards    were    also    to  choose  four    Councilmen,  one 


16  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

member  of  the  School  Committee,  one  Overseer  of  the  Poor, 
not  less  than  three  Fh-ewards,  and  the  Ward  Officers.  All 
other  necessary  officers  were  to  be  chosen  by  the  City  Council 
or  b}^  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen.  The  finances  of  the  city 
and  county  were  united  under  a  single  Treasurer.  The  ordi- 
nances were  no  longer  subject  to  the  disapproval  of  the  county 
court,  though  the  General  Court  reserved  the  right  to  annul 
any  which  did  not  meet  with  its  approval. 

The  original  act  of  incorporation,  being  chapter  110  of 
the  Acts  of  the  year  1821,  entitled  "An  Act  Establishmg 
the  City  of  Boston,"  although  revised  by  chapter  448  of  the 
Acts  of  1854,  entitled  "An  Act  to  Revise  the  Charter  of 
the  City  of  Boston,"  and  modified  in  many  respects  by  other 
legislation  since  that  date,  still  stands  unrepealed  upon  the 
statute  book. 

Reasons  for  Incorporation. 

In  deciding  to  adopt  a  city  form  of  government,  to  replace 
that  of  the  town  which  had  lasted  for  nearly  two  centuries,  the 
people  of  Boston  had  two  important  objects  in  view.  In  the 
first  place,  they  felt  that  the  time  had  come  when  the  growth 
of  the  town,  containing  in  1820  over  43,000  inhabitants, 
made  the  change  from  direct  government  to  representative 
government  a  practical  necessity.  Pure  democracy  had  been 
outgrown  and  representative  democracy  had  to  take  its  place. 
Under  the  town  the  people  themselves  constituted  the  gov- 
ernment; the  Selectmen  were  not  a  government  in  any 
proper  sense.  They  were  a  committee  appointed  by  the 
town  for  certain  purposes,  rather  than  officers  of  independ- 
ent powers  during  a  certain  term  of  office,  and  until  1776 
they  acted  as  a  committee  and  not  as  a  board.  They  were 
subject  at  any  time  to  instructions  from  the  town  meet- 
ing, and  thus  were  agents,  not  governing  officials.  But  the 
voters  of  the  town  had  become  too  numerous  longer  to 
exercise  directly  the  powers  of  municipal  government.     At 


City  Government  of  Boston.  17 

the  town  meeting  held  on  Jan.  6,  1822,  to  act  upon  the 
report  of  the  committee  which  had  been  appointed  to  draft  the 
charter,  over  4,800  votes  were  cast.  As  early  as  1799  it  had 
been  found  necessary  to  establish  ward  elections  for  certain 
purposes.  In  1813  a  sort  of  town  council  had  been  instituted 
by  vesting  the  choice  of  the  City  Treasurer  and  Collectors 
of  Taxes  in  a  body  of  thirty-three  members,  consisting  of 
the  nme  Selectmen,  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Health  and 
the  twelve  Overseers  of  the  Poor ;  and  this  body  also  acted 
as  a  committee  on  finance. 

Objection  to  County  Court  Control. 
But  there  was  another  potent  reason,  not  generally  as  well 
understood,  which  was  also  largely  instrumental  in  bringing 
about  the  change  in  the  form  of  government.  Suffolk  County 
had  been  established  in  1643,  and  had  been  given  a  county 
court,  which  had  jurisdiction  over  some  matters  closely  con- 
nected with  the  town  of  Boston,  and  which  was  for  certain 
purposes  an  executive  body  superior  to  the  Selectmen. 
Suffolk  embraced  at  that  time  a  large  territory  outside  of 
Boston,  including  Roxbury,  Dorchester,  the  whole  of  what 
is  now  Norfolk  County  and  a  good  part  of  Worcester  County. 
The  County  Court  met  but  four  times  a  year,  from  which  it 
derived  the  name  of  the  Court  of  Quarter-Sessions.  Besides 
the  authority  previously  exercised,  the  General  Court  pro- 
vided in  1692,  the  first  year  of  the  Provincial  Government, 
that  all  orders  and  by-laws  of  towns  should  be  approved  by 
the  justices  in  Quarter  Sessions  before  they  should  become 
operative.  This  law  remained  in  force  until  1822,  and  the 
last  edition  of  "The  By-Laws  and  Orders  of  the  Town  of 
Boston,"  issued  m  1818,  carried  on  its  title-page  the  state- 
ment that  they  were  "Duly  Approved  by  the  Court  of 
Quarter  Sessions." 

The  people  of  Boston  early  became  restive  under  this  ar- 
rangement,  and  fully  appreciated  the  advantages  which  would 


^ 


v^ 


18  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

accrue  to  them  if  the  town  could  be  made  a  county  by  itself, 
relieved  of  the  supervision  and  direction  of  justices  ap- 
pointed by  the  Governor  for  a  large  county,  of  which  Boston 
territorially  only  formed  a  very  small  part.  As  early  as  1650, 
seven  years  after  the  establishment  of  Suffolk  County,  the 
town  petitioned  the  General  Court  to  be  made  into  a  separate 
county,  a  petition  repeated  in  1677,  but  both  times  without 
result.  In  1708  the  selectmen  complained  to  the  town 
that  one  great  reason  why  the  orders  and  by-laws  of  the 
town  were  not  better  executed  was  "  the  want  of  a  proper 
head  or  town  officer  or  officers  empowered  for  that  purpose, 
the  law  having  put  the  execution  of  town  orders  into  the 
hands  of  the  justices  only,  who  are  not  town  but  county  offi- 
cers." They  proposed  as  a  remedy  that  a  charter  of  in- 
corporation should  be  drawn  up,  but  when  this  had  been 
prepared  it  was  rejected  by  the  town  meeting.  In  1793 
Norfolk  County  was  established  and  Suffolk  County  was 
reduced  to  Boston  and  Chelsea.  The  county  was  thus 
reduced  territorially  nearly  to  the  limits  of  the  town ;  but  this 
by  no  means  removed  the  objections  to  the  exercise  of  execu- 
tive powers  by  the  county  justices.  They  exercised,  beside 
the  veto  power  over  town  by-laws,  the  powers  of  granting 
liquor  licenses,  of  assessing  county  taxes,  of  discontinuing 
highways,  of  locating  distilleries,  potteries  and  slaughter- 
houses, and  of  appointing  certain  local  officers. 

Y     Down  to  1807  the  Court  of  Quarter-Sessions  consisted  of  V 
all  the  justices  of  the  peace  of  the  county,  many  of   whom 

'  were  laymen.  In  that  year  the  court  was  made  to  consist  of 
a  Chief  Justice  and  four  associates.  A  Municipal  Court  had 
been  established  in  1800,  particularly  for  the  punishment  of 
violations  of  town  by-laws.  Besides  the  Court  of  Quar- 
ter-Sessions and  the  Municipal  Court  there  was  a  Court 
of  Common  Pleas,  which  was  called  the  Town  Court. 
The  result  was  that  the  administration  of  justice  was 
complicated    and    defective;     the    final    committee  report, 


City  Government  of  Boston.  19 

which  resulted  in  the  adoption  of  the  city  charter,  pre- 
sented Dec.  10,  1821,  declared  that  "the  present  mode 
of  administering  justice  in  the  first  stages  is  attended 
with  many  and  growing  abuses ;  and  though  they  have 
already  attained  to  a  very  considerable  extent,  they 
must,  unless  prevented  by  an  entire  change  in  the  system, 
produce  eventually  the  most  mischievous  and  immoral  con- 
sequences." It  was  felt  that  a  reorganization  of  the  local 
courts  could  only  be  secured  in  connection  with  a  change  in 
the  form  of  municipal  government;  and  it  was  therefore 
partly  for  the  object  of  securing  a  better  administration  of 
justice,  and  of  obtauiing  relief  from  the  exercise  of  executive 
and  supervisory  powers  by  the  Court  of  Quarter-Sessions, 
that  the  city  charter  was  adopted.  The  benefits  to  Boston 
of  practically  being  a  county  by  itself,  and  of  having  the 
county  and  city  governments  administered  by  the  same 
authorities,  have  been  very  decided. 

Chakter  of  1822. 
Under  the  charter  of  1822,  while  it  was  declared  that 
the  Mayor  should  be  "taken  and  deemed  to  be  the  chief 
executive  officer"  of  the  municipal  corporation,  and  that  it 
should  be  his  duty  "  to  be  vigilant  and  active  at  all  times  in 
causing  the  laws  for  the  government  of  the  city  to  be  en- 
forced," in  reality  he  was  given  practically  no  executive 
powers  except  in  common  with  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  The 
executive  and  legislative  powers  were  absolutely  commingled, 
except  that  the  lower  branch  of  the  City  Council  was  not 
supposed  to  have  > —  although  this  was  not  strictly  true  in 
fact  —  any  executive  functions;  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
had  a  double  character,  being,  in  one  aspect,  one  branch  of 
a  two-chambered  council  in  which  the  legislative  power  was 
lodged,  and,  in  another  aspect,  an  executive  body. 

The  enumerated  powers  of  the  Mayor  under  the  original 
charter  (and  he  had  no  others  except  in  the  capacity  of  a 


20  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

ninth  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen)  were  merely  to 
preside,  if  present,  at  the  meetings  of  the  Mayor  and  Alder- 
men; to  summon  meetings  of  the  City  Council,  or  of  either 
branch ;  and  to  communicate  information  and  to  recommend 
measures  from  time  to  time  to  the  City  Council.  Where 
appointments  were  directed  to  be  made  by  the  Mayor  and 
Aldermen,  the  Mayor  had,  to  be  sure,  the  exclusive  power  of 
nomination ;  but  he  had  no  power  of  making  an  appoints 
ment,  either  temporarily  or  permanently,  independent  of  the 
board,  and  he  had  no  power  whatever  of  removal. 

The  charter  declared  in  its  first  section  that  "  the  adminis- 
tration of  all  the  fiscal,  prudential  and  municipal  concerns  of 
said  city,  with  the  conduct  and  government  thereof,"  should 
be  vested  in  a  Mayor,  a  Board  of  Aldermen  and  a  Common 
Council.  The  Mayor  and  Aldermen  were  given  "  the  admin- 
istration of  police,  together  with  the  executive  powers  of  the 
said  corporation  generally,  together  also  with  all  the  powers 
heretofore  vested  in  the  Selectmen  of  the  town  of  Boston, 
either  by  the  general  laws  of  this  Commonwealth,  by  par- 
ticular laws  relative  to  the  powers  and  duti^  of  said  Select- 
men, or  by  usages,  votes  or  by-laws  of  said  town."  They 
were  also  given  the  power  of  granting  licenses  to  inn-holders 
and  victuallers,  as  well  as  for  theatrical  exhibitions  and  public 
shows,  and  were  further  charged  with  the  duty  of  making  up 
the  lists  of  voters. 

In  the  City  Council,  acting  by  concurrent  vote  of  the  two 
branches,  were  vested  "all  other  powers  now  hy  law  vested  in 
the  town  of  Boston,  or  in  the  inhabitants  thereof  as  a 
municipal  corporation."  The  City  Council  was  also  ex- 
pressly given  the  power  "to  make  all  such  needful  and 
salutary  by-laws  as  towns  by  the  laws  of  this  Commonwealth 
have  power  to  make  and  establish,"  "  to  lay  and  assess  taxes 
for  all  purposes  for  which  towns  are  by  law  required  or 
authorized   to    assess    and   grant   money,"    "to  provide  for 


City  Government  of  Boston.  21 

the  assessment  and  collection  of  such  taxes,  and  to 
make  appropriations  of  all  public  moneys  and  provide  for 
the  disbursement  thereof,  and  take  suitable  measures  to 
ensure  a  just  and  prompt  account  thereof."  It  was  further 
authorized  either  to  elect  assessors  or  to  provide  for  the 
appointment  or  election  of  the  same  in  some  other  manner,  and 
to  provide  '*  for  the  appointment  or  election  of  all  necessary 
officers  for  the  good  government  of  the  city  not  otherwise 
provided  for,  to  prescribe  their  duties  and  fix  their  com- 
pensation." The  City  Council  was  further  given  "the  care 
and  superintendence  of  the  public  buildings,  and  the  care, 
custody  and  management  of  all  the  property  of  the  city, 
with  power  to  lease  or  sell  the  same  (except  the  Common 
and  Faneuil  Hall),  with  power  also  to  purchase  property,  real 
and  personal,  in  the  name  and  for  the  use  of  the  city."  All 
the  powers  of  the  Board  of  Health,  which  had  been  estab- 
lished in  1799,  were  also,  most  unfortunately,  vested  in  the 
City  Council,  "  to  be  carried  into  execution  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  Health  Commissioners,  or  in  some  other  proper 
manner."  It  was  also  expressly  provided  that  the  City 
Treasurer  and  City  Clerk  should  be  elected  annually  by  the 
two  branches  of  the  City  Council  in  joint  convention. 


Division  of  Powers. 

To  sum  up,  most  of  the  legislative  powers  were  exercised 
by  the  two  branches  of  the  City  Council  concurrently,  but 
some  by  the  Board  of  Mayor  and  Aldermen  alone ;  most  of 
the  executive  powers  were  exercised  by  the  Mayor  and  Alder- 
men alone,  but  some  were  shared  with  the  Common  Coimcil. 
In  a  general  way,  the  Mayor  was  the  successor  of  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Board  of  Selectmen ;  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen 
together  were  the  successors  of  the  Selectmen,  the  number 
of  Aldermen  being  retained  at  eight,  which  with  the  Mayor 
made  nine,  the  number  of  the  Selectmen  under  the  town ; 
and  the  City  Council  was  the  successor  of  the  town  meeting, 


22  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

though  its  powers  in  respect  to  the  control  of  the  executive 
officers  were  much  more  limited.  Although  it  was  provided 
in  the  charter  that  "  all  boards  and  officers  acting  under  the 
authority  of  the  said  corporation,  and  entrusted  with  the 
expenditure  of  public  money,  shall  be  accountable  therefor 
to  the  City  Council,  in  such  manner  as  they  may  direct," 
there  does  not  seem  to  have  been  any  manner  in  which  that 
body  could  hold  to  any  effective  responsibility  either  the 
officers  elected  by  the  people,  or  those  chosen  by  the  Mayor 
and  Aldermen. 

There  were  certain  exceptions  to  the  vesting  of  all  the 
powers  of  the  municipality  in  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  and  in 
the  City  Council.  The  election  of  one  Overseer  of  the  Poor 
from  each  ward,  which  had  been  established  under  the  town, 
was  continued,  and  the  Board  of  Overseers  was  to  exercise 
the  same  powers  which  it  had  enjoyed  under  the  town.  A 
School  Committee  was  also  constituted,  to  consist  of  one 
person  elected  by  the  voters  in  each  of  the  twelve  wards, 
joined  to  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen,  making  a  body  of 
twenty-one,  who  were  to  have  "  the  care  and  superintendence 
of  the  public  schools."  The  election  of  not  less  than  three 
Firewards  in  each  ward  was  also  continued,  who  were  to  con- 
stitute the  Board  of  Firewards  and  to  have  the  powers  for- 
merly exercised  by  the  firewards  of  the  town. 

Under  the  Constitution  of  the  Commonwealth,  as  it  then 
stood,  a  majority  vote  was  required  for  the  election  of  all 
state  officers,  successive  ballotings  being  held,  if  necessary, 
until  some  candidate  secured  such  majority.  This  rule  was 
applied  by  the  first  charter  to  the  choice  of  the  Mayor, 
Aldermen  and  Common  Councilmen. 

The  charter  also  provided,  as  a  sort  of  shadow  of  the  town 
meeting,  that  "  general  meetings  of  the  citizens  qualified  to 
vote  in  city  affairs  may,  from  time  to  time,  be  held  to  consult 
upon  the  common  good,  to  give  instructions  to  their  repre- 
sentatives, and   to   take   all   lawful   measures    to    obtam  a 


City  Government  of  Boston.  23 

redress  of  any  grievances ;  "  and  it  required  that  such  meetings 
should  be  duly  warned  by  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  upon 
the  requisition  of  fifty  qualified  voters  of  the  city.  The 
instructions,  however,  were  not  binding,  and  no  practical 
good  came  of  this  attempt  to  maintain  pure  democracy  in 
combination  with  representative  institutions. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  from  Colony  times  the  citizens  of 
Boston  have  held  their  local  elections  on  a  different  date 
from  that  of  the  State  election,  and  have  therefore  enjoyed 
almost  from  the  beginning  the  advantages,  now  so  generally 
recognized  by  municipal  reformers,  of  separating,  to  some 
extent  at  least,  local  politics  from  those  of  the  state  or  na- 
tion. 

Under  the  first  charter  the  municipal  election  was 
held  on  the  second  Monday  of  April,  and  the  municipal  year 
began  on  the  first  day  of  May.  By  an  act  passed  in  1824 
the  date  of  the  municipal  election  was  changed  to  the  second 
Monday  of  December  (subsequently  again  changed  to  the 
Tuesday  next  following  the  second  Monday),  and  the 
municipal  year  was  made  to  begin  on  the  first  Monday  of 
January. 

Scheme  of  Government. 

The  attempt  to  adhere  as  closely  as  possible  to  the  form  of 
government  in  a  town  resulted  in  confusion,  dissipation  of 
proper  executive  powers,  and  division  of  responsibility;  errors 
which  were  not  remedied  until  nearly  two-thirds  of  a  century 
later,  by  the  passage  of  the  charter  amendment  act  of  1885. 
The  Mayor  was  the  chief  executive  only  in  name ;  he  was 
the  figurehead  of  the  corporation,  but  otherwise  was  practi- 
cally nothing  but  one  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 
What  power  he  had  was  chiefly  derived  from  the  position 
which  the  charter  gave  him  as  presiding  officer  of  the  Board, 
and  the  right  of  appointing    committees   attaching,    under 


24  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

parliamentary  practice,  to  that  office.  If  he  succeeded —  as 
some  Mayors  of  the  city  did  in  an  eminent  degree  —  in  direct- 
ing municipal  affairs,  in  any  real  sense,  it  was  by  force  of 
his  individual  character  or  abilities,  not  by  virtue  of  any 
authority  inherent  in  his  office.  His  election  by  the  people 
as  the  nominal  head  of  the  corporation  gave  him  a  certain 
prestige  and  influence,  which  he  might  be  able  to  convert 
into  actual,  if  not  legal,  power.  Thus  the  second  Mayor  of 
the  city  was,  within  the  first  three  years  of  his  term,  placed 
at  the  head  of  several  important  committees  having  the  ex- 
penditure of  money. 

It  is  curious  to  note  how  carefully  the  framers  of  the 
charter  of  1822  seem  to  have  closed  their  eyes  to  the  les- 
sons which  they  might  have  drawn  from  the  organization 
of  the  state  and  national  governments.  They  adhered  as 
closely  as  possible  to  the  town  as  their  political  model,  and 
endeavored  to  make  the  change  from  town  habits  of 
government  as  slight  as  possible.  Under  the  consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  a  government  of  limited 
powers  had  been  successfully  established,  under  which 
the  three  recognized  branches  of  government,  namely,  the 
executive,  legislative  and  judicial,  were  carefully  separated 
and  distinguished,  each  being  given  its  appropriate  authority 
and  independence  within  its  proper  sphere.  The  constitution 
of  the  Commonwealth  had  wisely  and  explicitly  declared  in 
the  Bill  of  Rights  that  the  legislative  department  of  the  state 
government  should  never  exercise  executive  or  judicial  power, 
that  the  executive  department  should  never  exercise  legisla- 
tive or  judicial  power,  and  that  the  judicial  department  should 
never  exercise  legislative  or  executive  power,  "  to  the  end 
that  it  may  be  a  government  of  laws  and  not  of  men." 
The  evils  which  had  resulted  from  vesting  executive  powers 
in  the  judiciary,  to  be  exercised  by  injunction  or  otherwise, 
furnished  one  strong  incentive  for  adopting  the  city  form 
of  government ;  the  people  of  the  town  and  the  members  of 


City  Government  of  Boston.  25 

the  Legislature  are  alike  entitled  to  the  credit  of  making  an 
absolute  separation  in  the  incorporation  of  the  new  city  be- 
tween the  judiciary  and  the  legislative  and  executive.  But 
when  it  came  to  providing  for  the  exercise  of  the  executive 
and  legislative  powers,  following  the  false  analogy  of  the  pure 
democracy  of  the  town  government,  rather  than  the  model  of 
the  representative  governments  of  the  United  States  and  of 
the  Commonwealth,  these  powers  were  hopelessly  confused 
and  mingled  together.  It  was  nearly  two-thirds  of  a  century 
before  the  Legislature  returned,  in  defining  the  organization 
of  the  government  of  Boston,  to  the  sound  political  principle 
declared  in  the  constitution  of  the  state  in  1780,  and  finally 
gave  to  our  people  the  benefit  of  a  separation  between  the 
executive  and  legislative  powers  and  authorities  in  their 
municipal  government. 

Revised   Charter   of   1854. 

It  was  nearly  a  third  of  a  century  before  the  first  compre- 
hensive revision  of  the  city  charter  of  1822  was  effected, 
although  between  that  date  and  1854  some  thirteen  amendar 
tory  acts  had  been  passed.  Mayor  Bigelow,  in  retiring  from 
office  in  1852,  after  three  years  of  service,  had  clearly  pointed 
out  the  defects  of  the  charter  in  respect  to  the  exercise  of 
the  executive  powers  of  the  corporation  and  the  duties  of  the 
Mayor.  He  urged  that  these  duties  should  be  purely  of  an 
executive  character,  and  that  the  Mayor  should  be  relieved 
of  membership  in  the  Board  of  Aldermen  and  the  School 
Committee.  At  the  Mayoralty  election  of  1853  three  politi- 
cal parties  had  candidates  in  the  field,  and,  under  the  majority 
requirement,  it  took  three  trials  to  secure  an  election.  This 
doubtless  led  the  General  Court  to  establish,  by  Chapter  39 
of  the  Acts  of  1854,  the  rule  that  only  a  plurality  vote 
should  be  required  to  elect  at  all  town,  city  and  county  elec- 
tions. A  revised  charter  was  drawn  up  under  the  direction 
of   the  city  government   of   1854,  and  was    passed  by  the 


26  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversaky 

Legislature  subject  to  approval  by  the  people,  which  approval 
it  received  at  the  State  election  of  that  year. 

"Whether  the  result  was  intended  or  not  by  the  framers  of 
this  charter,  the  movement  which  had  started  in  a  desire  to  give 
the  Mayor  more  executive  power,  ended  in  depriving  him  of  a 
large  part  of  the  little  he  already  had,  and  in  still  further  re- 
ducing him  to  a  figurehead.  In  order  to  make  him  more 
purely  an  executive  officer,  he  was  deprived  of  his  vote  in 
the  Board  of  Aldermen,  in  which  body  the  executive  power 
was  chiefly  lodged,  though  he  was  left  the  somewhat  empty 
privilege  of  presiding  over  its  deliberations.  The  board  was 
to  choose,  however,  a  permanent  chairman,  to  preside  in  the 
absence  of  the  Mayor,  and  to  succeed  to  the  office  of 
Mayor  in  case  of  a  vacancy.  The  act  practically  con- 
firmed and  increased  the  powers  of  the  Aldermen.  The  term 
"  Mayor  and  Aldermen  "  meant  the  Aldermen,  as  it  was  pro- 
vided that  "  where  anything  is  or  may  be  required  or  author- 
ized b}^  any  law  or  ordinance  to  be  done  by  the  Mayor  and 
Aldermen,  the  Aldermen  shall  first  act  thereon."  The  Mayor 
obtained,  to  be  sure,  the  right  to  remove  officers  nominated  by 
him  for  confirmation  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen ;  but  as 
nearly  all  the  important  officers  of  the  city  were  to  be  chosen 
by  the  City  Council,  entirely  independently  of  the  Mayor,  this 
was  of  comparatively  little  account.  In  order  that  he  might 
be  more  free  to  attend  to  the  duties  of  chief  executive  of  the 
city,  which  the  charter  nominally  vested  in  him,  the  Mayor 
was  relieved  of  the  burden  of  membership  in  the  Board  of 
Aldermen,  but  if  he  attempted  to  find  out  what  powers 
went  with  the  high-sounding  title  of  "  chief  executive," 
he  soon  discovered  that,  except  for  the  influence  which 
his  position  might  give  him,  he  had,  outside  of  the  veto 
power,  much  less  authority  than  an  Alderman,  if,  indeed,  he 
had  as  much  as  a  Common  Councilman.  He  could  preside 
over  the  Board,  but  he  could  not  directly  answer  even  grossly 
personal  attacks  upon  himself  —  and  such  were  sometimes 
made. 


City  Government  of  Boston.  27 

The  charter  of  1854  did,  indeed,  for  the  first  time,  give  to 
the  Mayor  a  limited  power  of  veto  over  all  votes  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen,  all  votes  which  required  to  be  passed  by- 
concurrent  vote  of  the  two  branches  of  the  City  Council,  and 
all  votes  of  the  Common  Council  involving  the  expenditure 
of  money.  This  power,  though  a  negative  one,  has  certainly 
proved  of  much  practical  importance;  and  thus,  while  the 
positive  influence  of  the  Mayor  as  a  factor  in  legislation  was 
reduced  by  taking  away  his  vote  in  the  Board  of  Aldermen, 
his  power  to  prevent  legislative  action  was  very  greatly  in- 
creased by  giving  him  the  veto.  Until  1885,  however,  he 
had  to  reject  appropriation  bills  in  gross,  though  he  might 
favor  all  the  items  but  one  or  two.  The  power  of  approv- 
ing only  good  items  has  proved  to  be  of  immense  benefit. 

Joint  Committees. 

The  charter  of  1854  is  also  notable  for  the  express  recog- 
nition which  it  gave  to  joint  committees,  and  to  the  practice 
of  administration  by  committees.  The  Common  Council  had 
made  strenuous  endeavors  to  compel  the  Aldermen,  through 
the  constitution  of  joint  committees,  to  share  with  them  the 
larger  powers  enjoyed  by  the  upper  branch;  the  new 
charter  expressly  recognized  this  practice,  and,  moreover,  pro- 
vided that  the  City  Council  might  constitute  either  a  joint 
committee,  or  a  special  committee  of  either  branch,  as  a 
Board  of  Health,  either  for  general  or  for  particular  pur- 
poses. The  express  authority  thus  given  to  the  City  Council 
to  entrust  the  exercise  of  important  executive  powers  to  a 
committee,  making  its  members  practically  department  heads, 
may  be  considered  the  beginning  of  the  establishment  of 
that  recognized  system  of  administration  by  committees  which 
lasted  down  to  1885. 

This  charter  made  a  radical  change  in  the  constitution 
of  the  School  Committee.  Instead  of  being  composed  of 
one  member  elected  from  each  of  the  twelve  wards,  together 


28  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

with  the  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen,  making  twenty-threee 
in  all,  it  was  to  consist  of  the  Mayor,  the  President  of 
the  Common  Council,  and  seventy-two  members,  six  elected 
from  each  of  the  twelve  wards,  two  of  whom  were  to  be 
chosen  each  year  for  a  term  of  three  years.  This  seems  to 
have  been  the  first  provision  for  choosing  any  elective  officer 
of  the  city  for  a  longer  term  than  one  year. 

Election  and  Salaries  of  the  City  Government. 

The  new  charter  contained  a  provision  for  the  election  of 
Aldermen  by  wards,  instead  of  at  large,  but  this  was  subject 
to  acceptance  by  the  people  by  a  separate  vote,  and  it  was 
rejected  by  a  somewhat  narrow  margm;  so  that  the  old 
method  of  election  of  Aldermen  on  a  general  ticket  con- 
tinued down  to  1885,  the  only  change  being  that  their  num- 
ber was  raised  from  eight  to  twelve,  to  correspond  with 
the  number  of  wards  then  existing.  In  1885,  under  an 
act  passed  by  the  preceding  Legislature  without  submission 
to  the  people,  the  election  of  Aldermen  by  districts  was 
established.  But  in  1893  the  Legislature  agam  passed  an 
act,  subject  this  time  to  acceptance  by  the  people,  returning 
to  the  system  of  election  at  large ;  providing,  however,  that 
no  person  should  have  the  right  to  vote  for  more  than  seven 
candidates,  and  this  act  received  the  required  popular  approval. 

There  was  no  provision  under  either  the  charter  of  1822  or 
that  of  1854  for  the  payment  of  members  of  the  City  Council. 
The  city  was  first  authorized  to  provide  for  the  payment  of 
salaries  to  members  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  by  an  act  passed 
in  1888 ;  in  1896  another  act  was  passed,  and  accepted  by  the 
people,  providing  for  the  payment  of  a  salary  of  f  300  each  to 
members  of  the  Common  Council.  The  salary  of  the  Mayor 
under  both  charters  was  to  be  fixed  by  the  City  Council,  but 
was  not  to  exceed  the  sum  of  $5,000  per  annum ;  it  began  at 
the  sum  of  $2,500  in  1822,  was  increased  to  $3,000  in  1855, 
to  $4,000  in  1856,  to  $5,000  in  1864,  and  finally  by  authority 
of  the  Act  of  1885  to  $10,000. 


City  Government  of  Boston.  29 

Mayors  of  the  City. 

During  the  seventy-five  years  of  the  history  of  the  city, 
Boston  has  had  thirty-one  different  mayors,  so  that  the  aver- 
age term  of  service  in  the  mayoralty  has  been  about  two 
and  a  haK  years.  Nine  have  served  for  only  a  single  year, 
twelve  for  two  years  (two  of  these,  however.  Mayors  Pierce 
and  Prince,  having  been  elected  for  a  one-year  term  at 
two  different  times),  eight  for  three  years,  two  for  four 
years,  and  one,  Frederic  W.  Lincoln,  living  to-day  at  the 
age  of  eighty,  and  still  in  the  service  of  the  city  as  treasurer 
of  the  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  has  enjoyed  the  unique  distinc- 
tion of  serving  as  Mayor  for  seven  years,  three  at  one  time, 
and  four  at  another.  All  of  the  mayors  have  been  born  in 
Massachusetts,  except  two  who  were  born  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, one  each  in  Connecticut  and  Maine  and  one  in  Ire- 
land. In  only  one  case  has  a  mayor  died  in. office;  and  the 
only  resignation  occurred  when  the  late  Mayor  Pierce  resigned 
about  a  month  before  the  expiration  of  his  term  in  1873,  to 
occupy  the  seat  in  Congress  to  which  he  had  been  elected. 

The  total  vote  cast  for  Mayor  increased  from  3,700  in 
1822,  to  8,896  at  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  century  period 
in  1847,  and  to  17,716  at  the  end  of  the  second  quarter 
century  in  1872 ;  the  vote  rose  at  the  State  election  in 
1896  to  82,198  votes  cast  for  President.  In  the  present 
year  the  registered  voters  of  the  city  may  for  the  first  time 
reach  the  100,000  mark. 

Departments  Under  the  Town. 
In  taking  up  the  present  departments  of  the  city  govern- 
ment, it  may  be  well  to  see  in  the  first  place  how  rpany  of 
them  can  be  said  to  have  had  any  existence  under  the  town. 
The  Selectmen  were  first  chosen  by  that  name  to  serve  for  a 
full  year  in  1645,  previous  elections  having  been  for  a  shorter 
period  and  under  a  different  designation.  The  early  Selectmen 
assumed  and  exercised  certain  legislative  powers,  as  well  as 


30  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

executive  functions,  and  therefore  under  the  charter  of  1822 
they  were  succeeded  in  certain  respects  by  tiie  City  Council, 
though  chiefly  by  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen.  Overseers 
of  the  Poor  were  first  chosen  in  1690,  consisting  at  first 
of  four  persons,  though  the  law  of  the  Province  author- 
izing towns  to  choose  such  ofiicers  was  not  passed  until 
two  years  later.  In  1772  the  Overseers  were  incorporated, 
by  special  act,  and  the  first  charter  had  a  clause  providing  for. 
the  election  of  one  Overseer  from  each  ward.  As  the  Board 
of  Overseers  gradually  acquired  or  took  jurisdiction  over 
in-door  as  well  as  out-door  relief,  over  the  care  of  the 
insane,  and  over  the  workhouse,  it  must  be  regarded  as  the 
original  predecessor  of  what  was  until  recently  the  Institu- 
tions Department.  Down  to  1799  the  duty  of  protecting 
the  public  health  was  vested  in  the  Selectmen,  but  in  that 
year  a  separate  Board  of  Health  was  established,  consisting 
of  twelve  persons,  and  ward  elections  were  first  mstituted 
to  provide  for  the  choice  of  one  member  of  this  board  from 
each  ward.  This  important  duty  was  soon  remitted  to  the 
Board  of  Aldermen. 

Beside  these  two  important  town  departments  which  were 
both  provided  for  by  statute  and  seem  to  have  been  largely, 
if  not  entirely,  independent  of  the  Selectmen,  certain  ofiices 
had  been  established  more  or  less  under  the  control  of  the 
Selectmen,  which  can  be  regarded  as  forerunners  at  least  of 
present  departments.  The  constable  was  the  earliest  town 
officer,  and  his  duties  occupy  a  number  of  pages  in  our 
Colonial  Law  which  seems  now  disproportionate.  While  he 
combined  other  duties  with  those  which  the  title  imported, 
he  represented  the  police  power  of  the  state,  and  must  there- 
fore be  regarded  as  the  germ  from  which  the  present  Board 
of  Police  has  developed.  The  employment  of  a  night  watch 
was  authorized  by  the  General  Court  in  1699,  and  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  night  watch  and  the  police  for  daytime 
duty  was  kept  up  until  the  revision  of  the  charter  in  1854. 


City  Government  of  Boston.  31 

The  police  department  proper  began  in  1786,  and  became 
complete  in  1799  through  the  appointment  of  a  superintendent 
of  police. 

The  treasurer's  department  dates  from  1641;  that  of 
the  city  clerk,  as  a  separate  department,  from  1650,  the 
treasurer  having  been  also  the  town  recorder  for  the  nine 
years  previous  to  that  time.  The  office  of  Recorder,  now 
represented  by  the  City  Registrar,  was  one  of  those  American 
improvements  made  by  our  ancestors,  to  the  great  gain  of 
their  descendants.  Our  records  of  vital  statistics  surpass 
those  of  England.  The  market  department  may  be  said  to 
date  from  1649,  when  a  "clerk  of  the  market"  was  first 
chosen.  The  department  of  weights  and  measures  dates 
from  1640,  when  a  sealer  was  first  chosen.  The  street 
department  and  the  street  laying-out  department  may  both 
be  said  to  date  from  1638,  when  surveyors  of  highways 
were  first  elected. 

The  germ  of  the  present  assessing  department  is  found 
in  the  election  as  early  as  1646  of  a  special  commissioner 
to  assist  the  selectmen  in  the  valuation  of  property.  In 
1694  regular  assessors  were  first  chosen;  in  1792  it  was 
provided  that  two  assistant  assessors  should  be  chosen  by 
each  of  the  twelve  wards,  who  should  in  turn  choose  the 
principal  assessors. 

While  a  Latin  school  had  been  established  in  the  year 
1635,  the  public  school  system  properly  dates  from  1684, 
when  grammar  schools  under  the  control  of  the  Selectmen 
were  first  established.  The  Selectmen  continued  to  manage 
the  schools  until  1789,  when  a  School  Committee  was  first 
chosen,  consisting  of  the  nine  Selectmen  and  twelve  persons 
chosen  by  the  town.  Primary  schools  were  not  made  a  part 
of  the  public  school  system  until  1818,  and  they  were  placed 
under  a  separate  committee  of    thirty-eight    persons,  three 


32  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

from  each  ward,  who  were  appointed  by  the  School  Com- 
mittee and  were  known  as  the  Primary  School  Commit- 
tee, and  this  system  lasted  until  1855.  While  the  select- 
men had  had  charge  from  the  first  of  the  extinguishment  of 
fires,  a  separate  fire  department  may  be  said  to  have  had 
its  origin  with  the  first  choice  of  fire  wards  in  the  year 
1641.  The  street  lighting  service  dates  from  the  installa- 
tion of  310  lamps  in  the  year  1773 ;  under  the  town  it 
seems  to  have  been  under  the  administration  of  the  Select- 
men. 

Of  the  present  thirty-three  executive  departments  under 
the  Mayor,  hereafter  to  be  mentioned,  we  therefore  find  that 
sixteen,  namely  the  Assessing,  Fire,  Health,  Institutions 
(four  in  number).  Lamp,  La*w,  Market,  Overseeing  of  the 
Poor,  Registry,  Street,  Treasury  and  Weights-and-Measures 
Departments  can  be  considered  as  having  a  more  or  less 
clearly-defined  existence  at  the  time  of  the  institution  of  the 
city  government. 

Establishment  of  City  Departments. 

In  no  way  can  the  development  of  the  municipal  organiza- 
tion be  more  strikingly  seen  than  in  noting  the  establishment 
from  time  to  time  of  the  different  departments  through  which 
the  government  of  the  city  is  now  carried  on.  The  original 
city  charter  only  required  (outside  of  the  Mayor,  Board  of 
Aldermen,  Common  Council  and  ward  officers),  the  choice  of 
Firewards,  Overseers  of  the  Poor  and  a  School  Committee,  to 
be  elected  by  the  people,  and  of  Assessors  of  Taxes,  a  City 
Treasurer  and  a  City  Clerk,  to  be  chosen  by  the  City  Council. 
These,  therefore,  were  the  only  departments  of  tlie  city  gov- 
ernment originally  established  by  the  legislature.  Any  other 
offices  that  might  be  found  necessary  were  left  to  be  created 
by  the  City  Council. 

Of  the  present  thirty-three  departments  of  the  city  gov- 
ernment under  the  Mayor,  taking  them  in  alphabetical  order, 


City  Government  of  Boston.  33 

the  Assessors  were  inherited  from  the  town.  The  office  of 
City  Auditor  was  established  in  1824.  The  Building  De- 
partment was  created  by  statute  in  1871.  The  office  of 
Collector  of  Taxes  was  separated  from  that  of  Treasurer  in 
1875.  The  Board  of  Elections  was  established  by  the  charter 
amendment  act  of  1895,  succeeding  the  Board  of  Registrars 
of  Voters,  instituted  in  1874,  the  duty  of  preparing  lists  of 
voters  prior  to  that  time  having  been  performed  by  the  Mayor 
and  Aldermen.  The  office  of  City  Engineer  grew  out  of  the 
introduction  of  water,  and  dates  from  1850. 

A  salary  was  first  paid  to  the  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Fire 
Department  in  1829.  The  office  had  existed  for  some  time 
previous,  but  the  service  had  been  performed  gratuitously, 
and  the  establishment  of  a  salary  for  the  Chief  Engineer  may 
be  regarded  as  the  beginning  of  the  Fire  Department,  in  the 
modern  sense  of  the  term,  though  nominally  established  by  act 
of  the  legislature  in  1825  ;  however,  the  men  of  the  department 
were  first  placed  upon  a  paid  basis  in  1837.  In  1850  an  act 
was  passed  reorganizing  the  Fire  Department  and  authorizing 
the  City  Council  to  establish  a  board  to  act  as  its  head ;  but 
down  to  1873  this  power  was  not  exercised,  the  Chief  En- 
gineer and  Assistant  Engineers  being  chosen  by  the  City 
Council,  while  the  members  of  the  fire  companies  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  Mayor.  In  that  year,  as  a  result  of  the  great 
fire  of  1872,  the  department  was  placed  under  a  Board  of  Fire 
Commissioners,  three  in  number,  and  they  were  succeeded  in 
1895  by  the  present  single  commissioner.  The  Boston 
Protective  Department  was  incorporated  in  1874. 

The  first  Board  of  Health  was  established  in  1799,  under 
the  statute  passed  by  the  General  Court  in  that  year,  and 
continued  down  to  1822.  While  the  charter  provided  that 
the  City  Council  might  provide  for  the  exercise  of  the  health 
powers  through  a  board  of  commissioners,  or  otherwise,  that 
body  did  not  see  fit  until  fifty  years  later,  in  1872,  to  establish 


34  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

a  regular  Board  of  Health.  During  this  period  the  health 
powers  were  exercised  by  the  City  Council,  acting  through  a 
committee. 

From  very  early  times  a  hospital  for  contagious  cases  had 
been  maintained  on  Rainsford  Island,  but  it  was  not  until 
1858  that  the  city  was  authorized  by  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture "to  erect,  establish  and  maintain  a  hospital  for  the 
reception  of  persons  who,  by  misfortune  or  poverty,  may 
require  relief  during  temporary  sickness."  This  act  pro- 
vided for  the  appointment  of  trustees  for  managing  the 
hospital.  The  present  City  Hospital  buildings  were  begun 
in  1861,  and  opened  for  use  in  1864.  In  1880  the  trustees 
were  incorporated  and  authorized  to  receive  gifts  and  be- 
quests, and  their  number  was  fixed  at  five. 

The  four  present  departments  of  Penal  Institutions,  Pau- 
pers, Children  and  Insane,  may  be  said  to  date  from  the 
establishment  in  1857  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  Public 
Institutions,  consisting  of  three  members  of  the  City  Coun- 
cil and  nine  citizens  at  large,  three  of  whom  were  elected 
annually  for  the  term  of  three  years.  This  board  served 
without  pay,  and  lasted  until  1889,  though  the  three  mem- 
bers of  the  City  Council  were  dropped  from  it  in  1885, 
under  the  charter  amendment  act  of  that  year,  reducing  the 
board  to  nine  in  number.  In  1889  it  was  replaced  by  a 
board  of  three  salaried  commissioners,  which  in  turn  gave 
place,  in  1895,  to  a  single  Institutions  Commissioner;  the 
present  year  has  seen  this  officer  changed  to  a  Penal  Institu- 
tions Commissioner,  while  new  boards  of  trustees,  consisting 
of  seven  members  each  (of  whom  two  must  be  women),  have 
been  created  to  have  charge  of  Paupers,  Insane  persons  and 
Children ;  and  an  Institutions  Registration  Department  has 
also  been  established.  The  Penal  Institutions  Department 
may  be  said  to  date  back  to  the  establishment,  in  1824,  of 
the  House  of  Correction  on  the  present  site  in  South  Boston, 
with  a  separate  board  of  directors. 


City  Government  op  Boston.  35 

There  has  been  a  Supenntendent  of  Lamps  since  1843, 
but  the  o£&ce  was  under  the  Police  Department  until  1854. 

Though  the  office  of  Town  Attorney  was  established  dur- 
ing the  latter  years  of  the  town  government,  the  city  had  no 
regular  legal  adviser  for  several  years.  The  office  of  Attor- 
ney and  Solicitor  was  established  by  ordinance  in  1827, 
and  the  office  of  Corporation  Counsel  in  1881. 

The  Library  Department  dates  from  1852,  when  the  first 
Librarian  and  Board  of  Trustees  were  appointed,  though  an 
Act  was  passed  by  the  General  Court  in  1848  authoriz- 
ing the  city  to  appropriate  money  for  a  free  public  library, 
and  some  gifts  of  money  and  books  had  been  received  in 
1850.  The  circulating  department  of  the  Library  was 
opened  in  1854,  and  the  old  Library  building  on  Boylston 
street  was  dedicated  in  1858.  Authority  to  establish  branch 
libraries  was  given  in  1869.  The  Library  Trustees  were 
incorporated,  and  their  number  fixed  at  five,  in  1878,  and  in 
1880  the  state  gave  the  piece  of  land  upon  which  the  pres- 
ent Library  building  stands.  The  trustees  were  given  en- 
tire control  of  the  erection  and  management  of  the  new 
building  in  1887,  and  it  was  opened  for  use  in  1895. 

The  present  Market  Department  properly  dates  from  the 
opening  of  Quincy  Market  in  1826,  though  the  officer  in 
charge  continued  to  be  designated  by  the  old  colonial  title  of 
"  Clerk  of  the  Market "  down  to  1852,  when  the  present 
office  of  superintendent  was  established  by  ordinance. 

The  present  Cemetery  Department,  consisting  of  a  board 
of  five  trustees,  established  by  the  statute  passed  by  the 
legislature  of  the  present  year,  is  the  successor,  though 
with  broader  powers  and  duties,  of  the  Mount  Hope  Ceme- 
tery Department;  this  cemetery  was  purchased  by  the 
city  in  1857,  the    board    of   trustees   being   established   by 


36  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

ordinance  in  the  same  year.     In  earlier  times  there  had  been 
a  superintendent  of  burial  grounds. 

The  Board  of  Overseers  of  the  Poor  has  already  been 
spoken  of.  Down  to  1823  it  had  charge  of  both  in-door  and 
out-door  relief,  and  of  correction.  The  House  of  Indus- 
try was  removed  from  its  control  in  1823,  the  House  of 
Correction  in  1824  and  the  House  of  Reformation  in  1826. 

In  1870  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Legislature,  subject  to 
acceptance  by  the  voters  of  Boston,  under  which  a  board  of 
nine  Park  Commissioners  was  to  be  created,  four  to  be 
appointed  by  the  Governor,  with  the  power  to  lay  out  one  or 
more  parks.  This  act  required  a  two-thirds  vote  for  its  accept- 
ance, and  while  it  received  a  large  majority,  it  fell  somewhat 
short  of  this  requirement.  The  annexations  of  1874  led  to 
the  passage  of  another  park  act  in  1875 ;  this  was  accepted 
by  the  people,  though  by  a  very  light  vote,  and  the  first  Board 
of  Park  Commissioners  was  appointed  that  year.  Perhaps  no 
other  department  of  the  city  government  has  since  done  as 
much  to  make  Boston  an  attractive  place  of  residence. 

The  office  of  Superintendent  of  Printing  was  established 
in  1871.  Its  importance  has  been  very  greatly  increased  by 
the  opening  of  a  municipal  printing  plant  during  the  cur- 
rent year. 

The  Public  Buildings  Department  was  established  by 
ordinance  in  1850. 

A  Superintendent  of  the  Common  was  first  appointed  by 
the  Mayor  in  1853.  The  Department  of  Public  Grounds 
was  not  established  by  ordinance,  however,  until  1870. 

The  office  of  City  Registrar  was  established  in  1849  by 
ordinance.  In  1892  it  was  made  a  State  office  by  law,  to 
perform  duties  which  elsewhere  are  confided  to  city  and 
town  clerks. 


City  Government  of  Boston.  37 

The  office  of  Sealer  of  Weights  and  Measures,  dating  back 
to  colonial  times,  was  established  by  statute  in  1800.  In 
1817  another  act  was  passed  defining  the  duties  of  this 
office. 

The  Board  of  Sinking  Fund  Commissioners  was  estab- 
lished by  ordinance  in  1870. 

The  Street  Department,  as  at  present  organized,  only  dates 
from  1891,  Sewers,  Paving,  Sanitary,  Police  and  Bridges  hav- 
ing prior  to  that  time  been  under  separate  departments. 
The  Ferries  were  added  to  this  department  by  the  charter 
amendment  act  of  1895.  The  first  regular  ferry  to  East 
Boston  appears  to  have  been  established  in  1833.  In  1852 
the  East  Boston  Ferry  Company  was  incorporated,  subject  to 
certain  control  on  the  part  of  the  city,  and  acquired  the  fer- 
ries ;  and  the  ferry  property  was  purchased  by  the  city  in 
1870. 

The  Water  Department  dates  from  1846,  when  commis- 
sioners were  appointed  to  bring  the  Lake  Cochituate  supply 
to  the  city,  the  introduction  of  water  being  duly  cele- 
brated on  Oct.  25, 1848.  In  1849  a  Cochituate  Water  Board 
was  established  by  ordinance,  to  consist  of  a  commissioner, 
an  engineer  and  a  water  registrar,  together  with  the  Commitr 
tee  on  Water.  In  1850  the  board  was  changed  so  as  to 
consist  of  one  Alderman,  one  member  of  the  Common  Coun- 
cil, and  five  citizens  at  large.  A  paid  board  of  three 
members  was  appointed  in  1876,  in  consequence  of  the  an- 
nexation of  Charlestown,  bringing  the  Mystic  water  supply 
under  the  control  of  the  city,  and  this  board  continued  until 
1895,  when  under  the  charter  amendment  act  of  that  year 
it  was  replaced  by  a  single  commissioner. 


The  Wire  Department  was  established  by  statute  passed 
in  1894. 


38  Seventy-Fifth  Anntyersary 


THE  relation  OF  THE  CITY  TO  THE  STATE. 

In  considering  the  relations  between  Boston  and  the  Com- 
monwealth, it  should  be  remembered  that  a  city  has  a  double 
character.  It  is  primarily  an  organ  for  local  government,  a 
body  politic  for  the  satisfaction  of  local  wants;  it  is  secon- 
darily an  administrative  agency  of  the  state  government, 
charged  with  the  duty  of  securing,  within  a  local  sphere,  the 
execution  of  state  laws  general  in  their  application.  It 
is  important  that  this  dual  capacity  of  the  munici- 
pal corporation  should  be  kept  constantly  in  mind,  and 
that  these  two  functions  should  be  clearly  distinguished. 
Complete  local  self-government  involves  full  local  con- 
trol of  purely  municipal  concerns ;  but  it  does  not  require 
that  the  state  should  refrain  from  using  the  municipal 
machinery  for  carrying  general  laws  into  effect,  or  from  con- 
trolling its  organization  to  the  extent  necessary  for  that 
purpose.  When  we  come  to  define  the  limits  between  these 
two  kinds  of  municipal  activity,  and  to  say  in  what  matters 
the  city  should  be  regarded  as  acting  as  a  local  government, 
and  in  what  other  matters  as  the  agent  of  the  higher  govern- 
ment, there  is  room  for  much  difference  of  opinion,  particu- 
larly if  we  inquire  not  only  where  it  is  logical,  but  where  it  is 
wise,  to  establish  the  bounds  of  state  authority.  To  take  a 
conspicuous  illustration  of  a  piece  of  municipal  machinery 
which  fulfils  this  double  function :  our  Board  of  Elections  is 
but  a  mere  department  of  the  city  government  in  so  far  as 
it  has  to  do  with  elections  to  city  offices,  while  it  is  unques- 
tionably a  governmental  agency  of  the  Commonwealth  in 
so  far  as  it  has  to  do  with  state  elections.  The  Board  of 
Assessors,  in  like  manner,  must  be  regarded  as  an  agency  of 
the  Commonwealth  in  so  far  as  its  work  affects  the  distribu- 
tion of  state  taxes,  the  School  Committee  in  so  far  as  it  is 
carrying  into  effect  the  state  law  as  to  compulsory  education, 
and  the  Board  of  Health  in  so  far  as  it  is  executing  statutes 
for  the  protection  of  the  general  public  health,  which   is 


City  Government  of  Boston.  39 

affected     by    dangers     that    entirely    disregard    municipal 
boundaries. 

Of  the  thirty-three  executive  departments  under  the 
control  of  the  Mayor,  perhaps  nine  may  be  regarded  as  estab- 
lished partly,  though  not  wholly  in  any  case,  for  the  ex- 
ecution of  state  laws ;  the  other  twenty-four  are  merely 
convenient  divisons  in  the  scheme  of  purely  municipal 
organization.  Of  the  executive  authorities  independent  of 
the  Mayor,  the  School  Committee  is  entrusted  with  the  charge 
of  educational  work  a  large  portion  of  which  is,  in  very 
general  terms,  required  by  state  law,  but  which  would  doubt- 
less be  carried  on  by  the  city  about  as  at  present  without  any 
statutory  requirement.  The  justice  and  expediency  of  estab- 
lishing the  Police  Department  as  an  independent  organiza- 
tion created  by  the  state,  for  the  enforcement  both  of  its 
laws  and  of  the  ordinances  of  the  city,  is  a  controverted 
question.  While  asserting  its  paramount  right  to  establish 
a  state  police  force,  maintained  at  local  expense,  for  the 
enforcement  of  the  laws  within  municipal  limits,  the  Com- 
monwealth has  thus  far  made  the  exercise  of  such  right  a 
question  of  expediency  in  each  particular  case. 


State  Legislation. 

A  good  idea  of  the  chief  directions  in  whicJi  legislative 
control  over  the  city  of  Boston  has  been  asserted,  is  obtained 
by  an  examination  of  the  special  laws  relating  to  the  city 
which  have  been  passed  since  its  incorporation.  These  have 
been  compiled  by  the  Law  Department  from  time  to  time 
and  published  by  the  city,  and,  including  the  acts  of  the  pres- 
ent year,  now  make  up  a  volume  of  over  seven  hundred  pages, 
containing  about  the  same  number  of  separate  acts.  A 
classification  of  some  of  these  acts  under  general  headings  is 
instructive.  From  1822  to  1897,  inclusive,  there  have  been 
passed  by  the  Legislature  about  the  following  numbers  of 


40  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

special  acts  affecting  the  city  of  Boston,  or  the  municipalities 
now  annexed  to  the  city,  relative  to  the  following  subjects : — 

Streets  and  sidewalks 79 

Bridges 43 

Water  supply  and  distribution 42 

Courts  and  other  judicial  matters  .  .         .         .         .40 

Construction  and  safety  of  buildings     .  .  .         .37 

Organization    of   the    city   government  or  departments 

thereof     .  .......     34 

Granting  special  incorporations,  or  affecting  the  rights 

of  private  corporations       ......     34 

Parks  and  playgrounds         .         .         .         .         .  .32 

Sewers  and  drainage     .         .         .  .         .         .         .31 

Penal  and  charitable  institutions  .         .         .         .         .     25 

Elections  and  election  machinery 22 

Constables  and  police  .......     20 

Protection  from  fire,  and  Fire  Department    .         .         .20 
Boston  Harbor     ........     19 

Annexations  of  territory  or  changes  in  boundary  lines  .  18 
Schools  and  the  School  Committee         .         .         .         .13 

Public  Health 12 

Public  Library     ........     11 

An  analysis  of  these  statutes  indicates  very  clearly,  on 
the  one  hand,  that  many  acts  have  been  passed  by  the 
Legislature  relative  to  matters  which  might  easily  have  been 
entrusted  to  local  control,  without  any  surrender  of  the 
proper  sovereignty  of  the  state,  and  that  it  has  undoubtedly 
been  too  much  inclined  to  regulate  some  things  which 
could  have  been  dealt  with  by  the  city  itseK  under  the  gen- 
eral powers  granted  by  the  charter;  it  is,  therefore,  to 
some  extent  true  that  the  General  Court  has  acted  as  the 
legislative  body  of  the  city.  But  such  an  examination  also 
discloses  the  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  acts  included 
in  the  above  classification  were,  for  one  reason  or  another, 


City  Government  of  Boston.  41 

beyond  the  scope  of  municipal  control,  and  were,  therefore, 
proper  subjects  for  the  exercise  of  the  legislative  power  of  the 
state.  Obviously  it  has  been  necessary  that  this  power  should 
be  exercised  wherever  the  joint  action  of  two  municipalities 
was  required,  as  in  cases  of  annexations  of  territory  or  changes 
in  boundary  lines,  or  of  inter-municipal  bridges.  Jurisdic- 
tion over  the  shores  of  the  harbor  has  also  necessarily  rested 
with  the  Commonwealth.  Most  of  the  acts  relative  to 
water  have  involved  the  granting  to  the  city  of  Boston  of 
the  right  to  acquire  land  and  construct  works  within  the 
limits  of  other  municipalities.  Of  course,  jurisdiction  over 
the  courts  properly  belongs  exclusively  to  the  Common- 
wealth; and  the  regulation  of  elections  is  also  clearly  its 
function. 

The  greatest  room  for  differences  of  opinion  in  regard 
to  the  proper  limits  between  state  and  municipal  authority 
is  doubtless  to  be  found  in  matters  relating  to  the  organi- 
zation of  the  city  government  and  its  departments.  Under 
our  State  Constitution  it  must  be  conceded  that  it  belongs  to 
the  Legislature  to  fix,  in  the  first  instance,  the  framework  of 
a  local  government,  subject  to  acceptance  by  the  voters  of  the 
municipality  before  it  is  adopted.  The  city  of  Boston  started 
with  a  scheme  of  government  which  was  not  only  approved  by 
the  voters  of  the  town  after  its  adoption  by  the  Legislature, 
but  was  drafted  by  the  town  for  presentation  to  the  Legis- 
lature. The  principle  of  municipal  autonomy  was  not  there- 
fore violated  when  the  city  was  instituted.  The  charter 
revision  of  1854  was  also  formally  approved  by  the  voters 
before  it  went  into  effect,  and  was  petitioned  for  by  the  city 
council. 

Charter  Acts  of  1885  and  of  1895. 

When  we  come  to  the  important  charter  amendment  act 

of    1885,    however,    we   find   that   a   different   course   was 

adopted,  and   that   the  legislature    saw  fit   to   exercise    its 

full  power  without  submitting  its  action  to  local  approval. 


42  Seventy-Fifth  Annivebsary 

It  may  be  open  to  doubt  whether  so  radical  a  change  in  the 
distribution  of  the  powers  of  the  city  government  would 
have  been  ratified  by  the  voters  of  Boston  at  that  time  if  the 
act  had  been  submitted  to  popular  vote;  and  certainly  the 
City  Council  could  hardly  have  been  expected  to  assent  to  so 
great  a  curtailment  of  its  powers.  But  at  the  present  time  it 
may  be  conceded  that  the  change  thus  wrought  has  upon  the 
whole  been  a  highly  beneficial  one,  and  that  it  has  produced 
more  responsible,  efficient  and  coherent  executive  goverLment. 
Again,  the  charter  amendment  act  of  1895,  extending  the 
term  of  the  Mayor  to  two  years,  substituting  single  commis- 
sioners in  place  of  paid  boards  at  the  head  of  the  Fire,  Water 
and  Institutions  Departments,  and  establishing  the  Board  of 
Elections,  was  not  submitted  to  local  approval,  and  it  is 
doubtful  whether  such  approval  could  have  been  secured; 
but  its  results  have  thus  far  apparently  been  good.  In 
the  last  three-quarters  of  a  century  a  very  considerable 
number  of  important  acts  have  been  referred  to  popular 
vote,  and  in  passing  the  act  of  the  present  year  for  the  con- 
solidation of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  and  the  Common  Council 
into  a  single  chamber,  the  Legislature  has  again  properly  sub- 
mitted its  action  to  the  voters  of  Boston. 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  while  in  a  very  few  instances  the 
Legislature  has  passed  important  acts  affecting  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  City  Government  without  regard  to  local  senti- 
ment at  the  time,  and  while  the  wisdom  of  some  of  these 
acts  has  been  disputed,  yet  it  must  in  fairness  be  acknowl- 
edged that  in  the  main  the  General  Court  has  shown,  in 
all  matters  of  consequence,  a  large  consideration  for  the  views 
of  our  citizens,  and  has  been  disposed  to  accord  to  them,  to 
a  very  great  extent,  the  right  of  passing  upon  questions 
vitally  affecting  their  local  government. 

When  we  come  to  the  minor  acts  affecting  the  organization 
of  the  various  departments,  it  may  well  be  claimed  that  the 
Legislature  has  shown    too    much    disposition   to    establish 


City  Government  of  Boston.  43 

municipal  departments  by  legislation,  and  has  been  too  unwill- 
ing to  let  the  city  of  Boston  work  out  the  salvation  of  local 
government  for  itself.  It  would  perhaps  be  too  much  to 
expect  that  the  Legislature  should  submit  to  the  acceptance 
either  of  the  City  Council  or  of  the  voters  every  act  relating 
to  the  city  of  Boston ;  but  it  seems  clear  that  since  the  char- 
ter revision  of  1885  the  City  Council  has  not  enjoyed,  —  partly 
perhaps  through  its  own  fault,  —  what  should  be  its  legitimate 
influence  over  the  framing  and  enactment  of  legislation  for 
the  city.  This  function  has  of  late  devolved  almost  wholly 
upon  the  Mayor,  and  has  constituted  one  of  the  most  import- 
ant duties  of  his  office.  For  the  last  ten  years  the  different 
Mayors  have  been  forced  to  exercise  a  large  influence  in 
securing  the  passage  of  an  important  and  comprehensive  body 
of  laws  affecting  the  city.  1/ 

Advantages  of  being  the  Capital  of  the  State. 

In  connection  with  state  legislation  it  should  be  noted  that 
Boston  has  occupied  a  peculiarly  advantageous  position  in 
comparison  with  other  large  American  cities.  As  a  rule, 
the  largest  city  of  a  state  is  not  its  capital;  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Chicago,  St.  Louis  and  Cincinnati 
are  illustrations.  But  a  large  city  necessarily  suffers  greatly 
in  influence  by  being  remote  from  the  seat  of  legislation,  and 
by  being  compelled  to  present  from  a  distance  its  views  on 
legislative  matters.  The  great  advantage  which  our  city  has 
enjoyed  in  being  the  capital  of  the  state,  as  well  as  its  largest 
city,  as  affecting  its  treatment  by  the  Legislature,  has  not  been 
appreciated  at  its  true  importance.  If  the  capital  had  been 
removed  to  Worcester  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago,  Boston 
would  certainly  have  enjoyed  much  less  consideration  than  she 
has  in  fact  received.  Upon  the  whole,  our  people  have  not  had 
much  cause  to  complain  either  of  the  attention  which  the  Legis- 
lature has  given  to  Boston  matters,  or  of  the  consideration 
which  local  views  have  received.  If  there  be  truth  in  the 
statement  that  the  Legislature  has  in  many  matters  acted  as 


44  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

the  City  Council  of  Boston,  it  must  at  least  be  admitted  that 
full  opportunity  to  be  heard  has  always  been  afforded  to  our 
citizens  before  committees  of  the  Legislature  ;  and  in  no  in- 
stance, probably,  has  any  measure  affecting  the  city  been 
passed  which  met  with  the  general  opposition  of  its  repre- 
sentatives, without  distinction  of  party.  When  our  members 
of  the  Legislature  are  divided  upon  a  measure,  the  question 
is  necessarily  settled  by  the  votes  of  representatives  from 
outside  of  the  city ;  but  with  any  reasonable  unity  of  effort 
it  is  nearly  always  in  their  power  either  to  prevent  the  pas- 
sage of  special  legislation  affecting  the  city  to  which  they 
are  opposed,  or  to  secure  the  passage  of  such  legislation 
when  they  favor  it.  It  must  also  be  admitted  that,  with  rare 
exceptions,  partisan  political  considerations  have  failed  to 
control  the  action  of  the  Legislature  in  dealing  with  the  city. 

Present  Distribution  of  Powers. 
The  executive  and  legislative  functions  of  the  government 
of  the  city  are  now  divided  between  five  different  authori- 
ties, wholly  or  partially  independent  of  each  other,  four 
elected  separately  by  the  people,  and  the  fifth  appointed  by 
the  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth.  These  five  authorities 
are  the  Mayor,  the  City  Council,  the  School  Committee,  the 
Board  of  Street  Commissioners  and  the  Board  of  Police. 
The  Mayor  exercises  exclusively  the  executive  powers  of  the 
city  (subject  to  the  confirmation  of  many  of  his  most  im- 
portant appointments  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen),  except 
such  as  are  vested  in  the  School  Committee,  the  Board  of 
Street  Commissioners  and  the  Board  of  Police.  The  execu- 
tive powers  of  the  two  former  bodies  are  to  a  certain  extent 
under  the  control  of  the  Mayor,  as  his  approval  is  required 
for  certain  action  by  the  School  Committee,  and  for  most 
of  the  acts  of  the  Street  Commissioners  ;  even  in  the  case 
of  the  police,  the  Mayor  is  authorized  to  assume  paramount 
control  in  case  of  "tumult,  riot,  or  violent  disturbance  of 
public  order." 


City  Government  of  Boston.  45 

The  City  Council  exercises  exclusively  the  legislative  pow- 
ers of  the  city,  except  that  certain  of  these  powers  are  exer- 
cised by  the  Board  of  Aldermen  alone,  and  that  the  Mayor 
has  a  limited  veto  power  over  all  legislative  action  of  the 
City  Council  or  of  either  branch  thereof ;  but  the  full  legis- 
lative power  of  the  municipal  corporation  is  restricted  by 
certain  rights  given  to  the  School  Committee  by  general  law, 
and  to  the  Board  of  Police  by  special  act,  to  draw  upon  the 
city  treasury  without  any  appropriation. 

Thus  we  have  in  our  executive  government  to-day  first,  a 
chief  executive  authority,  the  Mayor,  entirely  independent  of 
any  other  executive  control,  but  not  possessing  those  limited 
portions  of  the  full  executive  powers  of  the  city  which  are 
otherwise  vested,  namely,  —  second,  in  the  School  Committee, 
—  third,  in  the  Street  Commissioners,  —  and  fourth,  in  the 
Board  of  Police.  In  our  legislative  government  we  have  first, 
the  City  Council  as  a  whole,  having  the  general  powers  of  rais- 
ing and  appropriating  money;  second,  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
acting  alone,  having  the  power  of  granting  franchises,  loca- 
tions, and  some  licenses,  etc. ;  third,  the  School  Committee, 
and  fourth,  the  Board  of  Police,  both  having  certain  inde- 
pendent financial  powers  properly  legislative  in  their  nature ; 
while,  fifth,  the  Mayor  has  a  qualified  veto  upon  all  legislative 
acts  of  the  City  Council,  or  either  branch  thereof,  and  upon 
certain  action  of  the  School  Committee. 

This  division  of  the  executive  powers  of  the  city  seems 
unavoidable  under  the  present  methods  of  choosing  the  three 
executive  authorities  other  than  the  Mayor,  as  it  would  be  an 
anomaly  to  make  one  set  of  officers,  deriving  their  authority 
directly  from  the  people,  subject  to  the  directioii  of  another 
officer  deriving  his  authority  in  like  manner ;  and  obviously 
it  would  be  impracticable  to  make  officers  appointed  by  the 
Governor  (representing  the  supreme  power  of  the  State  and 
responsible  to  him)  subject  to  the  control  of  the  Mayor.     It 


46  Seventy-Pipth  Anniversary 

might  be  possible,  however,  in  the  interest  of  centralized 
financial  control,  which  is  now  partly  lacking  in  our  govern- 
ment, to  give  the  Mayor  that  veto  power  over  all  expendi- 
tures of  money  which  he  now  possesses  over  the  greater  part 
of  them.  At  present  he  exercises  no  practical  control  over 
the  expenditures  of  the  School  Committee  and  of  the  Police 
Department,  aggregating  for  the  present  year  $3,965,000, 
and  amounting  to  35  per  cent  of  the  total  current  depart- 
ment expenditures  of  the  city. 

Executive  Departments  in  1897. 
The  executive  powers  entrusted  wholly  to  the  Mayor  are 
now  divided  among  thirty-three  different  executive  depart- 
ments, namely,  the  Assessing,  Auditing,  Building,  Cemetery, 
Children's  Institutions,  Collecting,  Elections,  Engineering, 
Fire,  Health,  Hospital,  Insane  Hospital,  Institutions,  Regis- 
tration, Lamps,  Law,  Library,  Market,  Overseeing  of  the 
Poor,  Parks,  Pauper  Institutions,  Penal  Institutions,  Print- 
ing, Public  Buildings,  Public  Grounds,  Registry,  Sinking- 
funds,  Statistics,  Street,  Treasury,  Inspection  of  Vessels  and 
Ballast,  Water,  Weights  and  Measures,  and  Wire  Depart- 
ments. Of  course  the  powers  and  duties  of  some  of  these 
departments  have  been  fixed  by  statute. 

Nineteen  of  these  departments  are  under  single  heads,  all 
salaried  officers,  except  the  Inspectors  of  Vessels  and  Ballast, 
who  are  paid  by  fees  ;  three  departments,  namely,  those  of 
Assessing,  Elections  and  Health,  are  under  salaried  boards, 
consisting  of  nine,  four  and  three  members  respectively; 
and  one,  the  Law  Department,  has  a  dual  (salaried)  head, 
the  Corporation  Counsel  and  the  City  Solicitor  jointly. 
The  remaining  ten  departments  are  controlled  by  unpaid 
boards,  the  Parks  being  under  a  board  of  three,  the  City 
Hospital,  the  Public  Library,  the  Cemeteries  and  Statistics 
being  each  under  a  board  of  five,  the  Sinking-funds  under 
a  board  of  six,  Paupers,  Insane  persons  and  Children  each 


City  Government  of  Boston.  47 

under  a  board  of  seven,  and  the  Board  of  Overseers  of  the 
Poor  numbering  twelve.  Thus  no  less  than  sixty-two  per- 
sons are  now 'serving  the  city  gratuitously  as  members  of 
department  boards,  against  thirty-seven  heads  of  departments 
who  are  paid  for  their  services.  For  the  current  year  the 
sum  of  about  11,400,000, — if  the  proper  proportion  of  the 
appropriation  made  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  for  the  Insti- 
tutions Department  is  divided  between  the  new  institutions 
boards  —  amounting  to  about  one-eighth  of  the  total  current 
expenditures  of  the  executive  departments  of  the  city  under 
the  control  of  the  Mayor,  will  be  disbursed  by  unpaid  boards. 

Of  the  single  heads  of  departments  all  now  have  a  term  of 
one  year,  except  the  Building,  Fire,  Penal  Institutions,  Water 
and  Wire  Commissioners,  each  of  whom  have  been  given  a 
three-year  term.  Each  member  of  the  Board  of  Assessors 
and  of  the  Board  of  Health  is  appointed  for  three  years,  and 
each  member  of  the  Board  of  Elections  for  four  years. 

The  terms  of  the  members  of  three  of  the  unpaid  boards 
are  three  years,  while  those  of  the  members  of  the  remaining 
seven  boards  are  five  years,  so  that  the  latter  constitute  the 
most  stable  element  in  the  city  government  at  the  present 
time.  Eleven  women  are  now  serving  as  members  of  boards, 
a  much  larger  number  than  at  any  time  in  the  past  history 
of  the  city. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  of  these  thirty-three  executive 
departments,  no  less  than  twenty-two  have  been  created  by 
statute,  and  only  eleven  by  ordinance.  The  salaries  paid  to 
heads  of  departments  range  from  |3,000  to  f 7,500,  and  the 
total  compensation  of  the  heads  of  the  twenty-two  executive 
departments  receiving  salaries  now  amounts  to  the  sum  of 
1151,000  a  year,  or  an  average  of  about  $6,500  for  each 
department. 


48  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

Perhaps  it  is  not  too  much  to  claim  for  Boston  that  she  has 
finally,  at  the  end  of  three  quarters  of  a  century  of  experience, 
arrived  at  the  proper  organization  of  the  executive  departments 
in  respect  to  the  three  kinds  of  heads  above  mentioned.  It 
can  be  said  this  year  for  the  first  time  that  every  department 
has  at  its  head  that  one  of  the  three  forms  of  control  best 
adapted  to  its  character. 

Unpaid  Boards. 
In  studying  the  question  whether  single  salaried  officers, 
salaried  boards,  or  unpaid  boards,  achieve  the  best  results  in 
a  city  government  as  heads  of  executive  departments,  one 
of  the  first  conclusions  reached  is  that  no  general  rule 
can  be  laid  down.  The  choice  between  them  depends  en- 
tirely upon  the  nature  of  the  work  in  question ;  the  best 
organization  for  one  kind  of  work  may  be  the  worst  for 
another.  It  may  be  said  in  general,  as  the  result  of  our 
experience  of  three-quarters  of  a  century,  that  where  the 
duties  of  the  head  of  a  department  are  purely  of  a  business 
or  technical  character,  the  single  paid  officer  is  the  best; 
and  that  the  salaried  board  is  desirable  only  in  the  few 
cases  where  the  duties  of  a  department  are  of  a  some- 
what judicial  character,  and  touch  closely  the  rights  of  the 
citizen.  The  more  nearly  the  duties  consist  in  securing  the 
execution  of  work,  the  more  appropriate  is  the  single 
head;  the  more  there  is  of  mere  supervision,  of  selection 
of  methods  and  adoption  of  policies,  the  more  suitable 
is  the  unpaid  board.  Of  course,  it  may  also  be  said 
in  general  that  the  latter  form  of  organization  is  only  desirable 
where  the  duties  of  directing  the  operations  of  a  department 
can  be  so  organized  as  only  to  require  a  fraction  of  the 
time  of  each  member  of  the  board.  In  spite  of  some  ex- 
ceptions to  the  contrary,  experience  proves  that  the  services 
of  the  man  who  is  able  and  willing  to  give  all  of  his  time  to 
the  city  without  compensation  are  not  of  advantage  to  the  pub- 
lic. The  city  rather  needs  a  comparatively  small  portion  of  the 


City  Government  of  Boston.  49 

time  of  busy  men  and  women,  who  are  successfully  engaged 
in  other  affairs.  This  makes  it  necessary  that  the  work 
entrusted  to  an  unpaid  board  shall  be  limited  in  its 
scope  and  special  in  its  character ;  that  it  shall  be  such  that 
subordinate  officials  can  conduct  its  daily  routine,  subject  to 
directions  received  from  the  board  at  more  or  less  frequent 
regular  meetings. 

Within  its  appropriate  sphere,  no  form  of  department  con- 
trol possesses  as  many  advantages  as  the  unpaid  board.  In 
the  first  place,  it  ought  theoretically  to  secure, — and  it  nearly 
always  does  secure  in  practice, —  unselfish  service,  rendered 
with  no  motive  except  that  of  performing  useful  public 
work,  and  perhaps  of  receiving  the  credit  in  the  community 
properly  attaching  thereto.  Secondly,  it  ensures  greater 
continuity  and  stability  of  policy,  advantages  of  primary 
importance  in  many  branches  of  service.  Thirdly,  it  takes 
certain  municipal  departments  largely  or  wholly  out  of  the 
sphere  of  political  influences,  which  are  necessarily  active  in 
a  large  city.  The  power  of  removal  vested  in  the  Mayor 
makes  him  responsible  in  a  general  way  for  the  proper  con- 
duct of  the  department;  while  the  fact  that  the  term  of  only 
a  single  member  of  a  board  expires  each  year,  and  that 
differences  of  political  affiliations  are  generally  found  in 
each  board,  necessarily  limits  the  control  which  the  chief 
executive  could  exercise  for  any  partisan  purpose,  though  he 
retains  enough  of  authority  to  enable  him  ordinarily  to 
accomplish,  without  resorting  to  the  extremity  of  removal  from 
office,  whatever  is  required  for  the  public  good.  Fourthly, 
when  an  unpaid  board  is  wisely  balanced  in  its  construc- 
tion, the  composite  Avisdom  of  the  whole  membership  ought 
to  be  greater  and  of  more  practical  value  than  that  of  any 
single  member.  Lastly,  experience  has  clearly  shown  that 
men  of  successful  achievement  and  high  standing,  who  could 
not  be  induced  by  any  salary  that  could  be  paid  to  sell  to  the 
city  all  of  their  time,  are  willing  to  give  freely  a  portion  of 


50  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

it.  If  the  Boston  of  to-day  has  not  been  altogether  able, 
under  the  modern  conditions  of  a  great  city,  to  maintain  the 
civic  spirit  which  under  the  town  government  induced  so 
many  of  the  best  citizens  to  serve  the  public  in  office,  she  at 
least  has  no  reason  to  be  ashamed  of  the  sixty-two  men  and 
women  who  are  to-day  serving  her  as  members  of  unpaid  boards, 
of  what  they  stand  for  in  intelligence  and  in  character,  or  of 
what  they  are  accomplishing  for  the  public  good  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  important  affairs  entrusted  to  their 
charge. 

Further  Changes  in  City  Government. 
It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  consider  briefly  at  this  time 
what  further  changes  still  seem  to  be  desirable,  and  therefore 
are  likely  to  be  made  in  the  not  distant  future,  in  the  organi- 
zation of  our  city  government.  So  much  has  been  accom- 
plished toward  perfecting  and  co-ordinating  its  machinery, 
and  this  has  already  been  made  so  admirable  in  many  re- 
spects, that  such  further  steps  as  may  be  needed  to  render  it 
still  more  harmonious  and  efficient  in  its  operation  are  alto- 
gether likely  to  be  taken.  The  citizens  of  the  town  of 
Boston  were  noted  for  their  interest  in,  and  understanding 
of,  questions  of  governmental  organization ;  and  in  the  city  of 
to-day  there  are  not  lacking  associations  and  individuals  who 
desire  the  best  that  is  attainable  in  city  government,  and  are 
influential  enough  to  secure  in  the  long  run  the  adoption  of 
additional  improvements. 

The  question  of  the  proper  constitution  of  the  School  Com- 
mittee is  a  controverted  one,  and  is  complicated  by  the  fact 
that  women  aj-e  now  allowed  to  vote  in  the  election  of  its 
members  ;  but  it  must  be  admitted  by  all  that  the  present 
organization  of  this  Committee  perpetuates  in  one  very  im- 
portant department  of  the  work  of  the  city  government  the 
system  of  administration  by  elective  committees,  which  was 
finally    done    away   with   as  to  all  other  city  work  by   the 


City  Government  of  Boston.  51 

charter  amendment  act  of  1885.  While  the  results  at- 
tained will  vary  according  to  the  personnel  of  the  Com- 
mittee, it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  most  efficient  perform- 
ance of  many  important  duties  of  a  purely  executive 
character  devolving  upon  it  cannot  be  achieved  under 
the  present  system.  The  supervision  of  schools  from 
the  purely  educational  side  is  perhaps  rather  a  work  of 
a  legislative  than  of  an  executive  character,  and  this  might 
be  well  performed .  by  a  committee  containing  as  many  as 
twenty-four  members  ;  but  for  the  performance  of  the  execu- 
tive side  of  the  work,  a  smaller  body,  supervising  and 
directing  a  proper  force  of  executive  or  technical  officers, 
with  a  single,  responsible  executive  head,  would  seem  to 
ensure  more  consistent  policies  and  better  results.  The 
relations,  or  lack  of  relations,  between  the  School  Com- 
mittee and  the  City  Council  as  to  school  appropriations  are  at 
present  somewhat  unfortunate,  and  give  rise  at  times  to  un- 
necessary friction  as  to  the  division  of  financial  responsi- 
bility. The  City  Council  now  merely  appropriates  a  gross 
sum  for  the  maintenance  of  the  schools,  and  the  impor- 
tant work  of  apportioning  this  sum  for  different  purposes  is 
performed  by  the  School  Committee  itself;  and  moreover  this 
Committee,  under  the  authority  apparently  given  it  by  the 
state  law,  does  not  hesitate  to  make  expenditures  consider- 
ably in  excess  of  its  appropriations.  In  view  of  these  facts 
it  would  seem  to  be  decidedly  in  the  interest  of  simplicity 
and  responsibility  to  sever  entirely  the  present  financial  tie 
between  the  City  Council  and  the  School  Committee,  and  to 
give  to  the  latter  body  directly,  by  statute,  the  right  to  draw 
from  the  city  treasury  for  school  purposes  a  fixed  percentage, 
and  no  more,  of  the  tax  levy  for  each  year. 

In  respect  to  the  Board  of  Street  Commissioners,  the  elec- 
tion of  its  members  by  the  people  is  an  anomaly  in  our  present 
system  of  government  and  does  not  seem  to  rest  upon  any  suffi- 
cient reason.     When  the  board  was  constituted  in  1870,  the 


52  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

powers  given  to  it  were  taken  from  elective  officers,  namely 
the  Aldermen,  and  this  was  perhaps  the  original  reason  for 
filling  it  by  election  by  the  people.  While  the  work  of 
laying  out  streets  should  not  be  entrusted  to  a  single  offi- 
cer, some  other  basis  for  a  Land  Court  may  be  devised  in 
the  future. 

Organization  of  Executive  Departments. 
In  the  executive  departments  under  the  charge  of  the 
Mayor,  there  does  not  now  seem  to  be  room  either  for 
any  considerable  further  consolidation  of  existing  depart- 
ments, or  for  the  creation  of  new  departments,  though,  doubt- 
less, a  few  changes  might  be  made  in  each  direction.  Upon 
the  whole,  the  present  organization  of  the  executive  depart- 
ments is  a  capital  one ;  it  has  been  arrived  at  by  a  long 
process  of  development,  resulting  m  the  final  adoption  of  cer- 
tain principles.  The  existing  framework  of  the  Street 
Department,  particularly,  is  an  excellent  one,  and  brings  into 
close  relation,  under  a  single  head,  nearly  all  of  the  different 
branches  of  the  municipal  service, —  now  under  the  paving, 
sewer,  bridge,  street  cleaning,  sanitary  and  street  watering 
divisions,  —  which  have  to  do  with  the  streets.  The  Super- 
intendent of  Streets,  as  the  officer  supervising  and  directing 
the  operations  of  these  different  divisions,  each  under  its  own 
head,  together  employing  at  the  present  time  no  less  than 
3,000  men,  has  become  a  sort  of  deputy  mayor  as  to  the 
important  branches  of  municipal  service  embraced  in  his 
department,  to  the  great  relief  and  advantage  of  the  Mayor. 

It  is  a  safe  rule  that  no  more  work  should  be  imposed 
directly  upon  the  head  of  a  department  than  is  within  the 
limit  of  such  capacity  and  endurance  as  the  city  may  reason- 
ably expect  to  secure.  Even  with  our  present  large  num- 
ber of  departments,  there  are  several,  notably  the  Board  of 
Health,  which  have  already  placed  upon  them  rather  a  greater 
multiplicity   of    duties    than    can    be    properly   performed. 


City  Government  of  Boston.  53 

This  board  has  already  been  relieved  of  the  charge  of  the 
city  cemeteries,  and  might  well  be  relieved  of  several  other 
duties,  particularly  the  charge  of  public  baths,  which,  per- 
haps in  connection  with  public  sanitary  conveniences,  are 
important  enough  to  call  for  separate  administrative  control. 

While  some  persons  object  to  the  multiplicity  of  depart- 
ments already  reached,  on  the  score  of  complication  of 
machinery  as  well  as  expense,  it  may  well  be  claimed,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  the  proper  distribution  of  public  work  tends 
in  reality  towards  its  simplification;  and  expense  is  little, 
if  at  all,  increased  where  an  unpaid  board  can  be  placed 
at  the  head  of  a  new  department.  The  present  is  an  age 
of  specialized  effort  in  every  field  of  human  activity;  if 
municipal  government  is  to  keep  up  with  the  requirements  of 
the  times  it  must  be  specialized  wherever  this  seems  necessary 
for  the  accomplishment  of  the  best  results.  The  act  of  the 
present  year  created  five  institutions  departments  where  only 
one  existed  before ;  but  it  did  so  because  the  problems  con- 
nected with  the  care  of  criminals,  paupers,  insane  persons 
and  children,  vary  in  character,  though  related  to  each 
other,  and  need,  as  to  each  of  these  classes,  the  undivided 
attention  of  a  separate  board.  The  recent  establishment  of 
a  Board  of  Statistics  furnishes,  on  the  other  hand,  a  good 
illustration  of  a  desirable  extension  of  the  work  of  the  muni- 
cipal government  into  a  new  field.  The  development  of 
municipal  functions  on  new  lines,  which  is  one  of  the  striking 
tendencies  of  our  day,  occasionally  calls  for  the  creation  of 
new  departments ;  we  should  not  hesitate  to  establish  these 
wherever  there  is  work  for  the  public  good  waiting  to  be  done, 
especially  when  they  can  be  placed  under  the  charge  of  un- 
paid boards. 


54  Seventy-Fifth  Anniyersary 

Reorganization  of  City  Council. 
Coming  to  the  legislative  branch  of  our  city  government, 
the  need  of  some  reorganization  is  almost  universally  con- 
ceded, though  there  are  wide  differences  of  opinion  as  to 
what  form  this  should  take.  One  difficulty  inherent  in  the 
present  organization  is  the  comparative  unimportance  of  the 
Common  .Council.  Under  the  charter  as  it  existed  prior  to 
1885,  the  functions  of  the  Common  Council,  while  by  no 
means  equal  to  those  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  were  still  of 
considerable  importance ;  since  that  time  there  has  been  little 
legitimate  business  for  that  body  to  do  outside  of  passing  the 
annual  appropriation  order  (dividing  the  current  revenue  of 
the  city  among  the  different  departments),  and  the  orders 
authorizing  loans.  As  the  full  amount  which  the  city  is 
allowed  by  state  law  to  raise  by  taxation  is  always  appro- 
priated each  year,  the  making  of  the  annual  budget  is  really 
only  a  question  of  distributing  a  fixed  amount  of  money 
among  the  different  departments ;  as  such  distribution  prac- 
tically can  vary  very  little  from  the  appropriations  of  the 
preceding  year,  reducing  the  work  of  the  City  Council  to  that 
of  dividing  the  additional  revenue  in  excess  of  that  of  the  last 
year,  but  little  opportunity  is  afforded  for  useful  public  service. 

The  authorization  of  loans,  amounting  under  our  financial 
system  to  a  large  sum  each  year,  is  indeed  an  important 
matter,  and  might  afford  an  ample  opening  to  serve  the 
public ;  but  here  the  difficulty  is  met  that  it  is  ordinarily 
impossible  to  secure  the  two-thirds  vote  of  the  whole  mem- 
bership of  the  Common  Council  required  by  statute  for  the 
passage  of  a  loan  order  except  by  combining  in  one  measure 
a  sufficient  number  of  local  loan  items  to  command  the  sup- 
port of  at  least  two-thirds  of  that  body.  The  opportunities 
afforded  for  the  display  of  municipal  statesmanship  in  the 
framing  and  passing  of  a  local-improvement  loan  order  are 
hardly  sufficient  to  make  service  in  the  Common  Council 
attractive   to  those  best  qualified  to  serve  the  city. 


City  Government  of  Boston.  55 

It  has  been  proposed  that  the  Common  Council  should  be 
given  equal  powers  concurrent  in  every  respect  with  the 
Board  of  Aldermen ;  this  would  doubtless  do  some  good, 
but  hardly  enough,  with  a  Common  Council  of  seventy-five 
members,  to  warrant  its  adoption.  The  reduction  of  the 
number  of  Councilmen  from  three  from  each  ward  to  one 
has  also  been  proposed;  and  this  would  also,  particularly 
in  connection  with  the  change  in  powers  just  mentioned, 
accomplish  something  for  the  regeneration  of  the  Common 
Council.  The  act  to  be  submitted  to  the  voters  for  their 
acceptance  at  the  next  election  provides,  not  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  Common  Council,  any  more  than  for  that  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen,  but  for  the  consolidation  of  the  two 
existing  branches  into  a  single  chamber,  two-thirds  of  whose 
members,  corresponding  to  the  present  Councilmen,  are  to  be 
elected  by  wards,  and  one-third,  corresponding  to  the  present 
Aldermen,  by  the  city  at  large. 

One  important  object  to  be  sought  in  connection  with  any 
change  is  that  of  making  the  members  elected  at  large  true 
representatives  of  the  interests  of  the  city  as  a  whole,  and 
entirely  independent,  as  the  Mayor  practically  is,  of  any 
local  constituency  within  the  city.  The  ideal  balance  of 
power  would  seem  to  be  to  divide  the  votes  in  a  single 
chamber  equally  between  members  elected  by  wards,  avowedly 
as  representatives  of  local  interests,  and  members  elected  at 
large,  representing  only  the  general  welfare  of  the  city.  One 
great  evil  which  the  city  suffers  from  at  present  is  the  fact 
that  loan  items  of  the  greatest  consequence  from  the  general 
standpoint  cannot  secure  votes  enough  to  pass,  and  are 
crowded  out  in  the  interest  of  local  items,  log-rolled  together 
to  make  a  loan  order  which  can  go  through  both  branches  of 
the  City  Council. 


56  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

Relation  between  Legislative  and  Executive. 

One  important  function  of  a  legislative  body,  particularly 
under  a  city  government,  is,  through  the  power  of  the 
purse,  to  maintain  a  proper  scrutiny  upon  the  doings  of  the 
executive,  and  to  bring  before  the  public  any  acts  deserving 
of  criticism.  One  trouble  at  present  is  that  the  City  Coun- 
cil, having  lost  its  old  power  to  control  the  expenditure  of 
money  directly  by  its  own  committees,  has  not  learned  to 
put  to  a  proper  use  the  important  power  which  still  belongs 
to  it  of  discussing,  scrutinizing  and  checking  the  expendi- 
ture of  money  by  the  executive.  The  powers  of  the  Mayor 
and  of  the  heads  of  departments  are  so  broad  that  they 
should  be  constantly  exercised  in  the  full  light  of  publicit}'^, 
and  this  it  should  be  the  function  of  the  City  Council  to 
turn  on.  If  proper  and  fair  discussion  of  all  important  ex- 
ecutive acts  could  be  had  in  the  City  Council,  it  would  be 
greatly  for  the  public  advantage.  One  argument  in  favor 
of  a  single  chamber  is  that  it  would  seem  to  afford  a  much 
better  opportunity  than  can  exist  with  two  branches  for  the 
re-establishment  of  this  proper  relation  between  the  legislar 
tive  and  executive  departments. 

The  object  sought  by  all  is  the  strengthening  of  the  City 
Council,  in  importance  and  influence,  as  a  co-ordinate  branch 
in  the  government  of  the  city,  having  jurisdiction  only  over 
a  limited  field,  but  one  of  sufficient  importance  to  call  for  the 
exercise  of  the  best  talents.  Obviously  membership  in  a 
comparatively  small  body  is  of  more  consequence,  and  is 
therefore  more  apt  to  be  sought  or  accepted  by  citizens  of 
ability,  than  membership  in  a  large  body ;  and  membership  in 
a  single  chamber,  exercising  all  the  powers  vested  in  the 
legislative  branch  of  the  government,  must  amount  to  more 
than  membership  in  one  of  two  branches.  It  would  indeed  be 
a  mistake  to  reduce  too  greatly  the  number  of  members  of  a 
single  chamber  in  order  to  accomplish  such  an  object,  or  to 


City  Government  of  Boston.  67 

do  away  with  the  necessary  checks  on  hasty  or  ill-advi§ed 
legislative  action;  but  a  body  about  midway  in  membership 
between  the  Board  of  Aldermen  and  the  Common  Council, 
and  only  authorized  to  pass  upon  important  matters  after 
they  have  been  considered  at  two  meetings,  separated  by  an 
interval  of  at  least  a  week,  would  seem  to  afford  the  proper 
conditions. 

One  thing  may  be  predicted  with  confidence ;  our  City 
Council  will  become  either  of  more  consequence  in  our 
municipal  government  or  of  less.  It  is  not  likely  to  remain 
in  its  present  condition  of  unstable  equilibrium.  If  the 
reorganization  act  is  accepted  by  the  people,  the  consequence 
of  the  Council  will  undoubtedly  be  increased,  and  member- 
ship in  it  will  become  more  highly  prized.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  act  should  be  rejected,  it  is  probable  that  further 
powers  will  in  time  be  taken  away  from  the  City  Council  by 
the  legislature,  and  that  the  Board  of  Apportionment  system 
which  has  prevailed  in  New  York  will  be  introduced  here. 

Conclusion. 
As  we  stand  to-day  at  the  close  of  one  period  in  the 
municipal  life  of  Boston  and  look  forward  into  another,  we 
may  well  gather  new  courage  and  inspiration  from  the  past, 
to  strengthen  us  for  meeting  the  problems  of  the  future. 
Our  city  government  was  established  in  a  time  of  small 
things,  measured  by  modern  standards,  and  our  fathers  had 
but  slight  material  resources  at  their  command.  If  we  in 
our  day  and  generation  can  exhibit  as  much  of  wisdom,  of 
patient  striving,  of  devotion  to  the  service  of  the  public,  as 
they  did,  we  shall  have  no  reason  to  be  ashamed  of  the  record 
we  leave  behind  us.  The  difficulties  encountered  in  muni- 
cipal government  are  different  at  different  periods;  the 
qualities  needed  to  overcome  them  are  always  the  same. 
Civic  pride  and  patriotic  spirit  characterized  the  people  of 
the  town  of  Boston  from  the  earliest  days,  and  these  quali- 
ties  have   not    died   out   among  their   successors.      While 


58        Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary  of  Boston. 

but  a  fraction  of  the  people  of  the  city  of  to-day  are 
descendants  of  those  who  saw  the  first  city  governtnent 
established,  all  of  us  are  common  inheritors  of  everything 
that  made  Boston  in  the  past  worthy  of  the  distinction 
which  she  enjoyed.  The  city  of  three-quarters  of  a  cen- 
tury hence  can  scarcely  differ  as  widely  from  that  of  to- 
day, as  does  the  city  of  to-day  from  that  of  1822.  We  and 
our  children,  therefore,  have  not  as  great  a  transformation  to 
effect  as  fell  to  the  lot  of  our  predecessors ;  we  have  but  to 
see  to  it  that  the  municipality  continues  to  make  progress 
along  Ilqcs  of  development  already  laid  down.  May  we 
in  that  work  ever  keep  before  our  minds  a  high  ideal  of  what 
a  great  modern  city  ought  to  be,  and  a  sense  of  the  enlight- 
ened service  it  should  demand  from  each  of  its  citizens,  in 
order  that  its  beneficent  activities  may  work  for  the  greatest 
good  of  all  its  citizens. 


^-^^  a 


HISTORICAL    APPENDIX. 


60 


Seventy-Fifth  Anniyersaey 


1822. 

Mayor. 
*JOHN  PHILLIPS. 


Aldermen. 


♦Samuel  Billings, 
*Ephraim  Eliot, 
*Jacob  Hall, 
♦Joseph  Head, 

♦Samuel  F.  McCleary, 


♦Joseph  Jenkins, 
♦Joseph  Lovering, 
♦Nathaniel  Pope  Russell, 
♦Bryant  Parrott  Tilden, 
City  Clerk. 


Ward  1. 
♦William  Barry, 
♦Thaddeus  Page, 
♦Charles  Wells, 
♦Simon  Wilkinson. 


Common  Council. 

♦William  Prescott,  President. 

Ward  5. 

♦George  Washington  Coffin 
♦Thomas  Kendall, 
♦Horatio  Gates  Ware, 
♦Isaac  Winslow. 


Ward  9. 
♦Jonathan  Davis, 
♦Hawkes  Lincoln, 
♦William  Prescott, 
♦John  Welles. 


Ward  2. 
♦Martin  Bates, 
♦Benjamin  Lamson, 
♦Henry  Orne, 
♦Joseph  Stodder. 

Ward  3. 
♦Theodore  Dexter, 
♦Joshua  Emmons, 
♦Samuel  Jones. 


Ward  4. 
♦Joseph  Cooledge, 
♦Samuel  Perkins, 
♦Robert  Gould  Shaw, 
♦Joel  Thayer. 


Ward  6. 

♦Samuel  Appleton, 
♦Thomas  Motley, 
♦Jesse  Shaw, 
♦William  Sullivan. 

Ward  7. 
♦Jonathan  Amory, 
♦Patrick  Tracy  Jackson, 
♦Augustus  Peabody, 
♦Enoch  Silsby. 

Ward  8. 
♦David  Watts  Bradlee, 
♦Peter  Chardon  Brooks, 
♦James  Perkins, 
♦Benjamin  Russell. 

♦Thomas  Clark,  Clerk. 


Ward  10. 
♦Andrew  Drake, 
♦Daniel  Lewis  Gibbens, 
*David  Collson  Mosely, 
♦Isaac  Stevens. 

Ward  11. 

♦George  Watson  Brimmer, 
♦Asa  Bxillard, 
♦Barzillai  Holmes, 
♦Winslow  Lewis. 

Ward  12. 
♦Cyrus  Alger, 
♦John  French, 
♦John  Howe, 
♦Moses  Williams. 


Note.  —  ♦  Deceased. 


City  Government  of  Boston. 


61 


189T. 
Mayor. 
JOSIAH  QUINCY.* 
Aldermen. 


Perlie  a.  Dyar, 
John  H.  Lee, 
David  F.  Barry, 
Efiward  W.  Presho, 
Perlie  A.  Dyar, 
William  F.  Donovan, 
William  J.  Donovan, 


Chairman. 
William  Berwin, 
Franklin  L.  Codman, 
John  H.  Colby, 
Josiah  S.  Dean, 
William  H.  Lott, 
Milton  C.  Paige. 


Ward  1. 
Collingwood  C.  Millar, 
Charles  I.  Albee, 
A.  Dudley  Bagley. 

Ward  2. 
Joseph  A.  Conry, 
William  J.  Cronin, 
James  H.  Donovan. 

Ward  3. 
John  J.  O'Callaghan, 
Henry  B.  Carroll, 
John  I.  Toland. 

Ward  4. 
William  E.  Mahoney, 
John  W.  Donohue, 
Joseph  A.  Turnbull. 

Ward  5, 
William  J.  Miller, 
James  J.  Brock, 
Dennis  J.  Falvey. 

Ward  6. 
John  A.  Rowan, 
James  H.  Shannon, 
Michael  J.  Donovan. 

Ward  7. 
William  T.  A.  Fitzgerald, 
Thomas  Mackey, 
William  H.  Rotli. 

Ward  8. 
Francis  J.  Horgan, 
Daniel  J.  Kiley, 
Louis  Sonnabend. 

Ward  9. 
Patrick  Bowen, 
Michael  Leonard, 
Maurice  J.  McCarthy. 


J.  Miichel  Galvin,  City  Clerk. 

CouN  oilmen. 
Joseph  A.  Conry,  President. 

Ward  10.  Ward  18. 

Alfred  F.  Kinney,  Michael  E.  Gaddis, 

George  S.  Brooks,  James  J.  Casey, 

Walter  E.  Nichols.  John  H.  Daly. 


Ward  11. 
Frank  H.  Briggs, 
Charles  R.  Saunders, 
George  Holden  Tinkham. 

Ward  12. 
Arthur  G.  Wood, 
John  B.  Dumond, 
Edward  P.  Sands. 

Ward  13. 
Hugh  W.  Bresnahan, 
James  T.  Mahony,  Jr. 
Patrick  J.  O'Toole. 

Ward  14. 
John  H.  Dunn, 
William  P.  Hickey, 
James  F.  Mulcahy. 

Ward  15. 

Edward  C.  Cadigan,t 
John  J.  Mahoney, 
Daniel  V.  Mclsaac. 

Ward  16. 
Oliver  F.  Davenport, 
Frederick  W.  Farwell, 
Arthur  P.  Russell. 

Ward  17. 
Timothy  E.  McCarthy, 
Timothy  L.  Connolly, 
John  P.  Lanergan. 

Joseph  O'Kane,  Clerk, 


Ward  19. 
Charles  P.  Nangle, 
John  F.  Dempsey, 
John  J.  Flanagan. 

Ward  20. 
Wilbur  F.  Adams, 
Edwin  D.  Bell, 
Louis  T.  Howard. 

Ward  21. 
Samuel  C.  Jones, 
Alfred  Newmarch, 
Albert  C.  Sawyer. 

Ward  22. 
John  A.  Maier, 
Charles  F.  Adams, 
William  Dallow,  Jr. 

Ward  23. 
Edward  Orchard, 
Charles  W.  Dennis, 
Konrad  Young. 

Ward  24. 
William  E.  Harvey, 
WillardW.Hibbard, 
Harry  B.  Whall. 

Ward  25. 
William  M.  Farrington, 
Ezra  N.  Rolland, 
William  D.  Wheeler. 


♦Elected  for  two  years.    See  chap.  449,  Acts  of 
tDied  July  2,  1897. 


APPENDIX 


As  the  proceedings  at  the  inauguration  of  the  City  Govern- 
ment have  not  been  published  before  in  detail,  the  following 
account  has  been  prepared  from  the  best  authorities. 

Snow  (History  of  Boston,  p.  369)  writes :  — 
"  The  first  of  May  was  appointed  by  the  charter  as  the  day 
for  the  commencement  of  the  municipal  year.  Suitable 
preparations  were  made  in  Faneuil  Hall  for  the  ceremonies 
of  inducting  the  Mayor  and  other  officers  into  their  new 
stations.  A  platform,  raised  about  two  feet  from  the  floor, 
was  thrown  from  the  selectmen's  box  to  nearly  the  extent  of 
the  hall.  On  this  the  Selectmen  of  the  past  year,  the  Alder- 
men, and  Common  Council  elect  were  accommodated  with 
chairs  and  settees,  the  floor  being  covered  with  carpets.  Two 
of  the  galleries  were  filled  with  ladies  and  the  Hall  was 
crowded  to  excess." 

The  official  record  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Mayor  and 
Board  of  Aldermen  proceeds  as  follows  :  — 

City  of  Boston,  May  1,  1822. 

This  being  the  day  appointed  for  organization  of  the  City 
Government  by  virtue  of  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  passed  on  the  twenty  third 
day  of  February  A.D.  1822,  entitled  "an  act  to  establish 
the  City  of  Boston." 


64  Seventy-Fifth  Anniyersary 

The  following  Gentlemen  appeared  in  Faneuil  Hall  and 
took  their  seats,  viz. : 

Hon.  John  Phillips,  Mayor, 

aldermen. 

Samuel  Billings  Joseph  Jenkins 

Ephraim  Eliot  Joseph  Lovering 

Jacob  Hall  Nathaniel  P.  Russell 

Joseph  Head  Bryant  V.  Tilden. 

The  meeting  was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev^.  Thomas 
'Baldwin,  D.D.       . 

The  Hon.  Isaac  Parker,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Judicial  Court,  administered  the  several  oaths  required  by 
law  to  the  Mayor.  — 

The  Mayor  then  administered  the  like  oaths  to  the 
Aldermen,  and  afterwards  to  the  members  of  the  Common 
Council. 

"Eliphalet  Williams,  Esq.,  the  Chairman  of  the  selectmen 
then  rose,  and,  after  an  appropriate  address,  delivered  the 
city  charter  to  the  Mayor,  contained  in  a  superb  silver  case, 
and  the  ancient  act  incorporating  the  town  nearly  two  cen- 
turies past,  together  with  all  the  books  of  records,  title  deeds, 
and  documents  belonging  to  the  inhabitants.  He  concluded 
with  a  compliment  to  the  wisdom  and  judgment,  which  had 
selected  the  gentlemen  composing  the  present  boards,  for  the 
purpose  of  putting  into  operation  the  new  and  untried  system 
of  city  government."      (Snow,  History.) 


City  Government  of  Boston.  65 

In  response,  Mayor  Phillips  addressed  to  the  retiring  Board 
of  Selectmen,  the  following  speech,  which  is  copied  from 
Quincy's  "  Municipal  History  "  of  Boston,  pp.  373-374 : 

"  Mr.  Chairman,  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen :  — 

"  The  members  of  the  City  Council  acknowledge  their  obli- 
gations to  you,  for  the  attention  and  care  which  you  have 
bestowed  in  all  the  arrangements  for  their  accommodation. 
They  tender  their,  thanks  for  the  friendly  and  respectful 
sentiments  expressed  in  the  address  which  accompanied  the 
delivery  of  the  ancient  act  of  incorporation  of  the  town,  and 
the  recent  charter  of  the  city. 

"  During  the  short  period  which  has  elapsed  since  I  was 
elected  to  the  office,  the  duties  of  which  I  have  now  solemnly 
undertaken  to  discharge  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  I  have 
devoted  such  portion  of  my  time  as  I  could  command  to 
examine  the  records  of  your  proceedings,  with  the  able  as- 
sistance which  your  Chairman  most  readily  afforded  me ;  and 
they  furnish  full  evidence  of  the  ability,  diligence,  and  integ- 
rity of  those  who  have  been  justly  denominated  the  Fathers 
of  the  town. 

"  Gentlemen,  you  will  now  be  relieved  from  labors,  the 
weight  of  which  can  only  be  duly  estimated  by  those  excel- 
lent citizens  who  have  preceded  you  in  office.  You  retire 
with  the  consciousness  of  important  duties  faithfully  and 
honorably  discharged.  Our  best  wishes  attend  you,  whether 
engaged  in  public  employments  or  in  private  pursuits.  May 
you  be  useful  and  prosperous,  and  long  continue  your  exer- 
tions to  advance  the  interest  and  honor  of  our  city." 

Then  turning  to  the  members  of  the  new  administration, 
he  said: 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  City  Council :  — 

"  The  experience  of  nearly  two  centuries  has  borne  ample 
testimony  to  the  wisdom  of  those  institutions  which  our  an- 
cestors established  for  the  management  of  their  municipal 
concerns.     Most  of  the  towns  in  this  Commonwealth  may, 


66  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

probably,  continue  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  those  salutary  reg- 
ulations for  an  unlimited  series  of  years.  But  the  great  in- 
crease of  population  in  the  town  of  Boston  has  made  it 
necessary  for  the  Legislature  frequently  to  enact  statutes  of 
local  application,  to  enable  the  inhabitants  successfully  to 
conduct  their  affairs  ;  and  at  the  last  session,  with  a  prompts 
ness  which  claims  our  gratitude,  on  the  application  of  the 
town,  they  granted  the  charter  which  invests  it  with  the 
powers  and  immunities  of  a  city.  Those  who  have  attended 
to  the  inconveniences  under  which  we  have  labored,  will  not 
attribute  this  innovation  to  an  eager  thirst  for  novelty,  or  rest- 
less desire  of  innovation.  The  most  intelligent  and  experi- 
enced of  our  citizens  have  for  a  long  period  meditated  a 
change,  and  exerted  their  influence  to  effect  it.  Difference 
of  opinion  must  be  expected,  and  mutual  concessions  made, 
in  all  cases  where  the  interests  of  a  large  community  is  to  be 
accommodated.  The  precise  form  in  wliich  the  charter  is  to 
be  presented,  may  not  be  acceptable  to  all;  but  its  provisions 
have  met  with  the  approbation  of  a  large  majority,  and  it 
will  receive  the  support  of  every  good  citizen. 

"  Those  who  encourage  hopes  that  can  never  be  realized, 
and  those  who  indulge  unreasonable  apprehensions  because 
this  instrument  is  not  framed  agreeably  to  their  wishes,  will 
be  benefited  by  reflecting,  how  much  more  our  social  happi- 
ness depends  upon  other  causes  than  the  provisions  of  a 
charter.  Purity  of  manners,  general  diffusion  of  knowledge, 
and  strict  attention  to  the  education  of  the  young,  above  all 
a  firm,  practical  belief  of  that  divine  revelation  which  has 
affixed  the  penalty  of  unceasing  anguish  to  vice,  and  prom- 
ised to  virtue  rewards  of  interminable  duration,  will  counter- 
act the  evils  of  any  form  of  government.  While  the  love 
of  order,  benevolent  affections,  and  Christian  piety,  distin- 
guish, as  they  have  done,  the  inhabitants  of  this  city,  they 
may  enjoy  the  highest  blessings  under  a  charter  with  so  few 
imperfections  as  that  which  the  wisdom  of  our  Legislature 
has  sanctioned. 


City  Government  of  Boston.  67 

"  To  enter  upon  the  administration  of  this  government  by 
the  invitation  of  our  fellow-citizens,  we  are  this  day  assem- 
bled. When  I  look  around  and  observe  gentlemen  of  the 
highest  standing  and  most  active  employments,  devoting  their 
talents  and  experience  to  assist  in  the  commencement  of  this 
arduous  business,  in  common  with  my  fellow-citizens,  I  appre- 
ciate most  highly  their  elevated  and  patriotic  motives.  I  well 
know.  Gentlemen,  the  great  sacrifice  of  time,  of  care,  and  of 
emolument,  which  you  make  in  assuming  this  burden.  It 
shall  be  my  constant  study  to  enlighten  it  by  every  means  in 
my  power.  In  my  official  intercourse  I  shall  not  incumber 
you  with  unnecessary  forms,  or  encroach  on  your  time  with 
prolix  dissertations.  In  all  the  communications  which  the 
charter  requires  me  to  make,  conciseness  and  brevity  will  be 
carefully  studied.  I  will  detain  you  no  longer  from  the 
discharge  of  the  important  duties  which  now  devolve  upon 
you,  than  to  invite  you  to  unite  in  beseeching  the  Father 
of  Light,  without  whose  blessing  all  exertion  is  fruitless, 
and  whose  grace  alone  can  give  efficacy  to  the  councils 
of  human  wisdom,  to  enlighten  and  guide  our  deliber- 
ations with  the  influence  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  then  we 
cannot  fail  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  our  fellow-citi- 
zens." 

At  this  point  is  resumed  the  regular  report  from  the 
records  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  the  proceedings  in  the 
Common  Council  being  almost  the  counterpart  and  not 
worth  repeating. 

Afterwards  the  Board  of  Aldermen  retired  to  their  own 
room. 

The  Hon.  Mr.  Sullivan  came  up  with  a  message  from  the 
Common  Council  to  inform  the  Board  of  Aldermen  that  they 
had  elected  the  Hon.  William  Prescott  their  President,  and 
Thomas  Clark  Esq.  Clerk. 

Alderman  Head  was  charged  with  a  message  to  the  Com- 
mon Council  to  propose  a  Convention  forthwith  of  both 
boards  for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  City  Clerk. 


68  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

Major  Russell  came  up  with  a  message  from  the  Board  of 
Common  Council  to  inform  the  Board  of  Aldermen  that  they 
concur  in  the  proposition  to  form  a  Convention  of  the  two 
boards  to  meet  forthwith  in  Faneuil  Hall  for  the  purpose  of 
electing  a  City  Clerk. 

IN   CONVENTION. 

Agreeably  to  assignment  the  two  boards  met  in  Convention 
in  Faneuil  Hall  for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  City  Clerk. 

Mess"-  Tilden,  Davis  and  Brooks  were  appointed  a  com- 
mittee, to  receive,  sort  &  count  the  votes,  for  a  City  Clerk, 
who  reported,  that  the  whole  number  of  votes  was  fifty 
four ;  —  necessary  to  make  a  choice  twenty  eight ;  —  Samuel 
F.  McCleary,  Esq.  had  fifty  two  votes  and  was  chosen. 

The  oath  of  office  was  administered  to  him  by  the  Mayor. 

The  business  of  the  Convention  being  accomplished  the 
two  boards  separated. 

Ordered^  That  Aldermen  Head  &  Russell  with  such  as 
may  be  joined  on  the  part  of  the  board  of  Common  Council,  be 
a  Committee  to  consider  what  subjects  require  the  immediate 
attention  of  the  City  Council,  with  power  to  report,  such  by- 
laws as  may  be  immediately  requisite.  Sent  down  for  con- 
currence. Came  up  concurred,  and  the  board  of  Common 
Council  joined  on  its  part  Mess'^^-  J.  Welles,  Sullivan  & 
Orne. 

Account  against  the  town  of  Boston  passed  and  allowed, 
and  Ordered^  that  a  warrant  be  drawn  upon  the  Treasurer 
for  the  amount  thereof  being  13022.45. 

Voted  to  adjourn  to  meet  at  the  Court  of  Sessions  room  in 
the  County  Court  house  this  afternoon  4  o' Clock. 


City  Government  of  Boston.  69 

Afternoon. 

Court  of  Sessions  Room. 

The  Committee  appointed  on  the  subject  of  the  by-laws, 
reported,  three  bills  viz.:  A  by-law  to  establish  rules  &  regu- 
lations for  the  preservation  of  the  public  health  and  for  the 
appointment  of  temporary  health  Commissioners. 

An  order  to  continue  in  force  by-laws. 

An  order  prescribing  the  form  of  warrants  for  calling  meet- 
ings of  the  Citizens  of  the  several  wards. 

Which  several  orders  being  twice  read  passed  to  be 
enrolled. 

Sent  down  for  concurrence.     Came  up  concurred. 

Ordered^  That  the  Mayor  and  Alderman  Head  be  a  com- 
mittee to  consider  and  report  on  the  subject  of  rules  and 
orders  to  be  observed  at  this  board. 

Ordered^  That  the  Mayor,  Aldermen  Hall,  Billings  and 
Jenkins,  be  a  Committee  to  consider  the  subject  of  licensing 
all  Theatrical  exhibitions  and  all  public  shows,  and  the  terms 
and  conditions  of  licensing ;  and  also  report  by-laws,  inflict- 
ing forfeitures  for  the  non  observance  of  such  by-laws  and 
report  thereon. 

Ordered^  That  all  Committees  shall  be  nominated  by  the 
Mayor  until  further  order. 

Alderman  Head  was  charged  with  a  message  to  propose  a 
convention  of  the  City  Council  in  the  Court  of  Sessions  room 
tomorrow  10  o'Clock;  to  determine  the  number  of  Repre- 
sentatives it  will  be  expedient  for  the  City  to  send  to  the 
General  Court,  the  present  year. 

Major  Russell  came  up  with  a  message  from  the  Board  of 
Common  Council;  to  state,  that  they  non  concur  in  the 
proposition  to  form  a  Convention  as  above  proposed,  and 
the  Common  Council  propose  to  form  a  Convention  in  the 
Supreme  Court's  room  immediately  for  the  purpose  above 
specified. 


70  Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

Alderman  Tilden  was  charged  with  a  message  to  inform 
the  Common  Council,  that  the  Board  of  Aldermen  concur  in 
their  last  proposition  to  form  a  Convention  in  the  Supreme 
Court  room  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the  number  of 
Representatives  it  will  be  expedient  for  the  City  to  send  to 
the  next  General  Court  —  forthwith.  — 

m    CONVENTION.     . 

Agreeably  to  assignment  the  two  boards  met  in  Convention 
in  the  Supreme  Court  room  for  the  purpose  of  determining 
the  number  of  Representatives  it  will  be  expedient  for  the 
City  to  send  to  the  next  General  Court.  And  the  City  Coun- 
cil determined  that  the  number  should  be  twenty  five. 

The  business  of  the  Convention  being  accomplished  the 
two  boards  separated. 

Ordered^  That  Aldermen  Eliot  and  Jenkins  be  a  Committee 
to  consider  the  propriety  of  printing  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  of  this  State,  with  such  by-laws  of  the 
town  of  Boston  as  are  now  in  force. 

Ordered^  That  proposals  will  be  received  until  the  sixteenth 
instant  to  supply  the  City  with  Summer  strained  oil,  not  ex- 
ceeding thirty  five  hundred  gallons,  &  with  Winter  strained 
oil  not  exceeding  three  thousand  gallons  to  be  delivered  in 
such  quantities,  &  at  such  times  as  maj^  be  requested. 

Ordered^  That  proposals  will  be  received  until  the  fifteenth 
instant,  for  the  paving  that  may  be  wanted  for  the  City  the 
ensuing  season. 

Voted^  That  Aldermen  Tilden  and  Billings  be  a  committee 
to  direct  the  repairing  of  the  side-walks  in  Summer  street 
near  Church  green. 

Voted,  That  Aldermen  Tilden,  Billings  and  Jenkins  be  a 
committee  to  direct  all  necessary  repairs  near  the  School-house 
on  Fort-hill. 

Voted,  That  Aldermen  Lovering,  Hall  &  Jenkins  be  a  com- 
mittee to  direct  all  necessary  repairs  in  Brighton  street  and 
Charles  street. 


City  Government  op  Boston.  71 

Ordered^  That  Wednesday  next  11  o'Clock  be  appointed  for 
the  meeting  of  the  wards  for  the  choice  of  Representatives, 
and  warrants  were  ordered  to  be  issued  accordingly,  to  meet 
in  the  same  places  except  in  Ward  No.  6,  to  be  in  the  meet- 
ing house  in  Butolph  street. 

Adjourned  to  four  o'Clock  to-morrow  afternoon. 

[End  of  official  record.] 


The  new  City  Government  had  no  official  headquarters. 
On  May  6  the  City  Council  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare 
a  room.  No  report  or  entry  on  the  records  shows  what  room 
was  obtained,  but  it  seems  beyond  a  doubt  that  it  was  in  the 
School-street  court-house. 

The  records  of  1823  show  that  in  the  fall  of  that  year  a 
committee  spent  about  f  1,000  in  fitting  up  the  hall  of  the 
Common  Council,  and  that  it  was  a  room  which  had  been  used 
as  a  court  room.  The  clerk's  desk  was  a  table  borrowed  from 
the  room  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The  Auditor's  report  of 
1822-3  shows  some  $450  spent  on  furniture  for  the  Mayor 
and  Aldermen's  room. 

By  an  ordinance  of  Dec.  20,  1824,  rooms  were  assigned  to 
the  City  Treasurer  at  the  westerly  end  of  the  old  State  House ; 
for  the  City  Clerk  in  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen's  room;  for  the 
Auditor  at  the  westerly  end  of  the  court-house,  south  side ; 
Health  Commissioners,  Superintendent  of  Burying  Grounds 
and  for  the  City  Marshal  in  the  room  at  the  same  end,  north 
side.  The  clerk  of  the  Common  Council  and  the  Captain  of 
the  Watch  were  accommodated  in  the  room  in  a  back  building 
opposite  the  southwest  door  of  the  court-house,  while  the 
Assessors  occupied  a  room  at  the  easterly  end  of  Faneuil  Hall 
on  the  south  side. 

Mayor  Quincy  in  his  inaugural  address  in  January,  1827, 
advised  changes  in  the  county  court-house,  as  nothing  could 
be  more  inconvenient  than  the  location  of  the  public  offices. 
The  Mayor  and  Aldermen,  City  Clerk,  Auditor,  and  offices 


72         Seventy-Fifth  Anniversaey  of  Boston. 

of  police  were  in  one  building;  the  Assistant  City  Clerk  in 
another,  the  Treasurer  in  a  third,  and  the  Assessors,  Over- 
seers of  the  Poor  and  Directors  of  the  House  of  Industry  in 
a  fourth,  very  much  the  condition  that  obtains  to-day. 

He  recommended  a  fire-proof  building  at  the  western  end 
of  Faneuil  Hall,  which  would  cost  less  than  the  proposed 
new  court-house. 

In  1828  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen's  room  was  in  the  third 
story  of  the  west  wing  of  the  stone  court-house,  facing 
School  street.  The  Common  Council  chamber  was  in  the 
centre  of  the  same  story.  The  members'  seats  had  a  gradual 
ascent  from  front  to  rear.  The  School  Committee  met  in 
the  Mayor's  office. 

In  1830  the  old  State  House  was  fitted  up  for  the  City 
Council  and  the  city  offices,  and  by  ordinance  was  called  City 
Hall.  On  Nov.  21,  1832,  the  building  was  damaged  by  fire. 
The  damages  were  repaired  for  about  $3,500.  No  papers  of 
importance  were  lost. 

In  1839  the  City  Council  appropriated  160,000  for  the 
purchase  of  land  in  Court  square  and  on  School  street,  and 
$500  as  a  premium  for  a  new  City  Hall.  None  of  the  plans 
were  adopted,  and  July  27,  1840,  it  was  decided  to  fit  up  the 
School-street  court-house;  and  on  March  18,  1841,  it  was 
dedicated  as  the  new  City  Hall.  This  was  occupied  until 
Jan.  12,  1863,  when  the  City  Government  moved  into  Me- 
chanic's Hall,  at  the  corner  of  Chauncey  and  Bedford  streets. 
The  last  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  in  the  School- 
street  building  was  on  Jan.  7,  1863,  and  the  first  in  Me- 
chanics' Hall  on  January  12  of  the  same  year. 

The  present  City  Hall  was  dedicated  and  occupied  Sept. 
18,  1865,  at  noon  (the  17th  being  Sunday) ;  the  corner-stone 
having  been  laid  on  Dec.  2i 


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